Women facing record-high unemployment could try online training

Women who have been left out of work due to drastic job cuts throughout the economic downturn could benefit from online training courses.
 
According to [the] latest figures, ahead of the release of annual unemployment rates this Wednesday (December 14th), women have fared worse than their male counterparts in the jobs market with 1.09 million of them out of work in the UK alone, the Guardian reports.

Two-thirds of British jobs in the public sector were held by women as well as the retail industry, which have both seen large cuts over the past three years.

Data from the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted that 710,000 jobs will go from the public sector by 2017, many of which are held by women - signalling that female unemployment is set to worsen in the next five years.

E-learning training programmes could aid both men and women who are struggling to find employment by allowing them to gain further qualifications at a flexible pace with a timescale that can suit their personal life demands.

A representative from the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for gender equality, suggested that the deficit-cutting programmes brought in by the coalition have largely affected the levels of unemployment among women.

Anna Bird, the society's acting chief executive, said: "It's highly likely that the majority of these job cuts will come from women. The government's overall approach to reducing the deficit risks turning back time on women's equality."

Delyth Evans, who runs the charity Dress for Success, which aids women looking to get back into work, added that more must be done to prevent a whole generation of women being left unemployed.

She commented: "Women are facing particular challenges going back to work and we don't hide that from them. But it's about keeping them going, looking for jobs, keeping their confidence up."

Furthermore, Jonathan Swan, research and policy manager at Working Families, the UK's leading work-life balance organisation, suggested that companies that implement online learning programmes will attract the best staff for their workforce and that additional skills will be an attractive asset for a prospective employee to have.