OREANDA-NEWS. March 10, 2010. PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Russian Managers Association present the results of the 4th Annual Survey, Career Opportunities for Women in Business, reported the press-centre of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The last three years has seen an increase in the number of women occupying senior-level positions – women now make up a large portion of chief accountants (93%), HR senior managers (70%) and CFOs (48%). However, the number of women in positions such as operations director, general director, chairman of the board of directors and president remains rather low. The overwhelming majority of company representatives stated that there are no restrictions on female recruitment in place in their companies.

While last year the number of women who filled senior-level positions was equal to the number who left them (40%), this year the number of women leaving their positions has been smaller than the number of women appointed to senior-level positions (30% against 26%). The majority of respondents (79%) stated that no salary discrimination exists between men and women who hold similar positions in a company. However, representatives from every sixth company complained that women are on lower salaries than men – in the financial sector this is a common tendency.

The most widespread benefits that have been introduced for women have been flexible working hours (49%) and family medical insurance (30%). A quarter of companies reported that they have a working from home policy (either once or several times a week) in place. Almost a fifth of companies offer pregnancy and childbirth insurance coverage. Among those benefits most frequently cited by respondents were partly paid maternity leave (with a money-back guarantee) and tickets to summer holiday camps for children. 25% of companies surveyed do not offer any additional benefits or programmes for women with children.

The last year has witnessed a twofold increase in the number of women taking maternity leave for a period of less than 12 months, while more than 60% of women remain away from work for 1-2 years after having a child.

Almost 90% of companies have no special adaptation or professional development programmes for women getting back to work after a period of maternity leave. Over the last three years, the number of companies with such programmes has fallen considerably, from 26% in 2008 to 8% in 2010. More than half of companies, in addition to the payments they are required to make under law, offer their female employees extra pregnancy and childbirth benefits: 38% of companies have a policy of making a lump sum payment, and 22% offer additional monthly payments.