New PwC research reveals that matching the female employment rates in Sweden could boost Channel Islands GDP by a massive 6% (equivalent to £239m in Jersey and £168m in Guernsey). So how can our islands realise this potential, asks Leyla Vildirim (pictured), Chief Strategy Officer, PwC Channel Islands
Women are a critical but still under-used source of talent and economic dynamism in the Channel Islands. They bring in fresh ideas and experiences, and help bridge skills gaps when vacancies hold back economic performance. It isn’t just technical skills that are in demand, but also the creativity and emotional intelligence needed to innovate and connect with customers.
As automation and artificial intelligence become more prevalent, the skills that can’t be replicated by machines will become the biggest differentiators. Many of these capabilities are associated with women rather than men.
A 2018 study on women and leadership by Pew Research Center in the US found that women are more likely than men to be compassionate and empathetic, honest and ethical, and consider the societal impact of business decisions.
Sizing the prize
To find out how much the economy could benefit from improving opportunities for women, we asked PwC economists to rate Jersey and Guernsey against other leading economies in PwC’s Women in Work Index – which measures female participation in OECD economies and how pay compares with men. Sweden is used as the main benchmark as it consistently has one of the highest index ratings among major economies.
The prize is set out in Channel Islands Women in Work Index 2019: Boosting diversity, prosperity and growth. This cites a combined GDP boost for Jersey and Guernsey of more than £400m, and an increase of more than £300m in women’s earnings by closing the gender pay gap.
Yet a lot of barriers need to be overcome before we can capitalise. Jersey (20th) and Guernsey (14th) trail the UK as a whole (13th) in the index rankings and lag far behind Luxembourg (6th), a major competitor for financial services business and one of the fastest rising economies in the index.
At 21%, the gender pay gap is especially wide in the Channel Islands (16.5% in the UK as a whole), reflecting the lack of representation of women in the most senior and highest paid posts. In Luxembourg the figure is only 4%, having fallen significantly in recent years.
Why are many women finding it hard to break through the glass ceiling? Some barriers are common to all economies, including unconscious bias and lack of role models. Others are specific to the Channel Islands, including high childcare costs and limited parental leave. Anecdotally, we know that women joining their partners taking up positions in financial services on the islands can find it difficult to secure work unless they also have experience in the industry.
Gender equality is on the government and business agenda in the Channel Islands. Yet the index rating and gender pay gap suggest gender equality is still seen as a nice-to-have rather than a competitive priority.
Accelerating progress
Boosting diversity, prosperity and growth outlines how governments, educators, businesses and women can make gender equality a reality – from tackling stereotypes at school that prevent many women from taking up careers in high-paying sectors, to challenging outdated attitudes on issues such as flexible working. Emphasis should also be put on opportunities to apply skills learned in one sector to another as industry boundaries blur – customer engagement or project/change management, for example.
This still leaves the question of howwe turn opportunities for women from anice-to-have to an imperative. We at PwC believe gender pay gap reporting and targets for female representation will bring these issues into the open and inject an urgency into tackling them. Gender equality should get full board support, with proper accountability, targets, tracking and incentives.
Our economy is at risk of deterring talent and investment if we don’t make progress. But if we work together to get it right, we can not only realise the GDP gains, but also position Channel Islands PLC as a skilled, dynamic, forward-looking place for talent and investment.
To read Channel Islands Women in Work Index 2019: Boosting diversity, prosperity and growth, visit pwc.to/2YbAsTT
Six months on from establishing an office in Dubai, Jersey Finance is supporting a thriving Jersey community within the jurisdiction. However, the organisation mustn’t let this success detract from the other half of its remit – to engage with a Gulf target audience – if Jersey is to remain relevant in the region, says Richard Nunn (pictured), Head of Business Development for Eastern Markets, Jersey Finance, based in Dubai
Since being founded in 2002, the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) has achieved seriously impressive growth to become the largest IFC in the Middle East and North Africa region. I would like to think that Jersey has, in part, contributed to that growth.
Six months ago, Jersey Finance became the first IFC to establish an office in Dubai, based in the DIFC. It was the right home for us to establish our physical presence, attract talent to our organisation and manage the considerable network of Jersey intermediaries here.
Dubai’s private wealth sector is the dominant interest for Jersey’s financial services companies, but other thriving sectors – including funds, banking and fintech – are offering up interesting additional opportunities.
However, our base here has fast become a vital business hub that connects us to the core markets in the Gulf region, the wider Middle East and now Africa. From Dubai, we are today able to support our interests in more than a dozen high-profile cities.
Personal approach
Anyone with any experience of doing business in the Middle East will know that, locally, face-to-face meetings are preferred over what’s seen as the impersonal nature of emails and phone calls. This is a sentiment that Jersey’s private wealth sector understands. There’s no substitute for time spent in person with clients and key intermediaries. Jersey companies have been regularly visiting the home markets and environments of their Middle East clients for decades.
Jersey Finance’s own presence in the UAE dates back to 2011, since when we have been supporting and paving the way for Jersey firms investing in this personal approach.
During that time, the investment made by Jersey firms into the DIFC – and elsewhere in the Gulf region – has been significant, and we continue to see a growing community of Jersey practitioners active here.
Now that we are on the ground, we can support that community in two ways. First, there’s the daily activity of establishing and managing relationships with intermediaries and key clients across the various cities. This raises the local and regional profile of Jersey and our presence offers existing clients reassurance. We are unique in doing this – very few here have encountered a non-profit promoter of a jurisdiction engaging in this style.
Second, we are creating platforms, such as an active events schedule, to enable Jersey Finance members to leverage our networks and access new opportunities.
Jersey’s efforts to establish itself as a core part of the DIFC are bearing fruit. A leading consultancy here recently commented that it felt there were only two of the historic IFCs at the table: Jersey and Switzerland. It’s very rare to meet practitioners from competing IFCs in this region, be they from the UK, Europe or the Caribbean. However, it’s incredibly common to encounter Jersey practitioners, and that’s prevalent within the key intermediary network here. In fact, it’s a competitive space just among the Jersey community.
Maintaining balance
This has been our greatest success and it’s alsobecome our greatest challenge. There are numerous Jersey firms with a regional presence that are well supported by visiting colleagues, and key events such as STEP Arabia attract more Jersey visitors still. Jersey Finance has a unique vantage point through its relationships across the range of both intermediaries and end users, and that enables us to provide strong market intelligence to our industry.
However, during certain weeks of the year, our time could be spent wholly with Jersey firms and, therefore, we must maintain a balance to ensure we continue to raise awareness and reinforce Jersey’s credentials to our target audience in the Gulf region.
We enjoy a close relationship with our industry and we know Dubai-based firms very well, alongside almost all Jersey travellers that pass through. Working with all of these groups is what will keep Jersey relevant in this region. We must therefore continue to collaborate closely with our industry, adjust and evolve as opportunities arise, and, most importantly, continue to contribute to the success of our hosts in the DIFC.