Ahead of International Women’s Day, talent company Randstad presented the results of its latest online survey of 3,504 people. The report found that 65% of Argentine workers have a male boss, despite the fact that 55% of respondents say their employer currently has gender equality policies in place.
Comparing these results with surveys from previous years raises an alarm, given that although the number of companies that currently have gender equity policies has increased by 7 percentage points compared to the 2023 measurement, there has been no significant progress in gender parity, given that the number of workers who report having a male boss has decreased by only 2 percentage points in these 2 years , highlighting the long road that remains to be traveled in terms of equity and equality in our country.
Regarding these results, Andrea Ávila, CEO of Randstad for Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, said: “Although more and more organizations have been making progress in recent years in implementing gender equality policies, the data from our surveys show that structural barriers still persist that hinder women’s access to leadership positions. Equality is not just about intentions, policies or regulations, but rather a comprehensive approach that also considers the profound cultural changes required to transform the reality of the world of work. Especially in the face of a geopolitical context that seems to cast doubt on the need for this type of initiative, it is essential that companies continue to promote real opportunities for growth and professional development for women, seeking to close the gap that still exists at the highest hierarchical levels, because evidence indicates that greater diversity improves the results of organizations.”
Workers’ preferences
The Randstad study provides an insight into the perception that workers themselves have regarding diversity and the value it brings to organizations. In this regard, 94% of those surveyed indicated that they prefer to work in a team where there is gender diversity and 92% stressed that it is positive that their employer has policies to improve diversity within the organization. Likewise, 85% stated that work teams in which gender diversity is expressed achieve better results .
And although more than half of Argentine workers indicated that their employers have equity policies, the reality shows that there is still a pending debt in terms of equity in the current labor market. In this sense, only 65% of Argentine workers believe that their employer pays equal salaries to men and women in equal positions and when inquiring about opportunities for professional growth, only 61% consider that men and women have the same possibilities of access to managerial positions when it comes to candidates with equal qualifications . These data indicate that nearly a third of those surveyed do not consider that their employer provides equal treatment in relation to salaries and opportunities to access decision-making positions.
On the other hand, candidate were also specifically asked if they would prefer to have a male or female boss. In this regard, an shattering main part (89%) responded that it makes no difference to them whether they have a male or female boss, while a small 6% said they would prefer to have a male boss and only 5% said they would prefer to have a female boss.
The reality of the market
However, workers’ preferences contrast with the reality of the Argentine labor market, where a majority of 65% of those surveyed said they had a male boss in their current job, compared to a minority of 35% who said they had a female boss.
The Randstad study also delved into the issue of equal opportunities between men and women to reach decision-making and management positions. In this regard, only 57% of respondents stated that their current employer had an equal number of women and men in decision-making positions.
However, the numbers change dramatically when asked about gender equality in the highest management positions in companies, as those surveyed reveal that in their current job only 35% of CEO or General Manager positions are occupied by women.
The persistent cultural mandates that assign different roles to men and women in relation to family and home care, together with the effect of invisibility of the problem that implies the lack of indicators linked to gender equality in many organizations, contribute to generating a perception far removed from the real situation of disadvantage that continues to affect women throughout the world.
“The lack of equality
between men and women in the workplace is due to multiple causes and factors and unconscious biases that make recruiters and decision-makers continue to prefer men to occupy managerial positions. Every year, the commemoration of International Women’s Day reminds us of the debt that exists to balance the scales in terms of equality in the world of work,” said Andrea Ávila, adding: “Many companies are really unaware of their situation in relation to gender issues and assume that they are being equitable when, in reality, they are very far from meeting acceptable parameters in relation to equal opportunities, salaries, non-discrimination and equal access to decision-making positions. That is why at Randstad, we continue with the task of collecting diversity, equity and inclusion indicators year after year to collaborate with information and tools so that organizations can improve their policies and thus we can have a world of work in which men and women are finally on an equal footing.”
The data collection that constitutes the raw material for this report, whose objective has been to characterize the attitudes and preferences of Argentines in relation to different issues related to the world of employment, was carried out through an online questionnaire between January 20 and February 21, 2025 to 3,504 people with and without jobs.
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