‘A woman’s work is never done’

By Abi Labbett, Senior Director of Asset Management at CBRE

Published by CoStar, March 8, 2021

With an international property career spanning across the globe, and over 15 years’ experience in real estate, I’ve experienced first-hand how gender equality can impact the business environment in a positive way. 

From the beginning of my career in real estate at CBRE in Spain, when I remember being the only young woman in a room full of men refusing to adapt the language from Catalan to Spanish so I could understand what was going on, to working with CBRE on their programmes to instil diversity and inclusion at the heart of the business, it is great to see how far that supporting gender equality in the workplace has come.  As the saying goes, however, ‘a woman’s work is never done’ and it is important this year’s campaign doesn’t become just another moment in time. 

Following a tough period for many women needing to fulfil multiple roles as a result of Covid-19 taking over our lives, the IWD theme #ChoosetoChallenge is more poignant this year than most.  I can definitely ‘raise my hand’ and admit that I have experienced, in some senses, the toughest moments of my career by having to take on multiple roles at home.  I have balanced being a teacher, a parent, and a boss all within the same four walls and very often the same day.  I’m sure many women across the globe will agree it’s not been a walk in the park and having such a strong partnership with my husband has helped us work as a team. 

It’s also vital that we provide this level of support to each other to achieve balance in the workplace, whether it’s raising awareness or taking action for gender equality. According to research by PwC, the median gender pay gap in real estate is 30%, more than double the 14% for all UK companies[1]. This reflects a sector where the balance at entry level isn’t reflected in the number of women reaching the most senior and well-paid positions. With this in mind, mentoring other women – of all ages and backgrounds – who want to build a career in the property industry remains incredibly important to me. 

At CBRE, there are already some great initiatives to support women in the workplace. More recently, for example, we have implemented a pilot ‘return to work’ scheme to help anybody that has an extended period of time away from a job back into the workplace. I mentored a woman that was returning to the workplace after 14 years.  Having taken a four-year career break to have my own children, this situation is something I could easily relate to. 

We worked together on a 12-week programme and her work was great, so I asked the business to keep her on an additional three months to help finish a project for me. It’s this type of programme that I think more businesses need to implement now and in future in order to give women the confidence and the opportunity to build a career in a sector they want to get into but maybe unsure how to go about it.

Another area I feel strongly about, and which CBRE does very well, is to cater for flexible hours. Once again, this year has taught us that flexibility is really important. Generally, the big corporate property companies do this pretty well, but we should see businesses of all sizes supporting women to balance their work and home lives. With fewer commuting struggles and working efficiently from home becoming the new norm, it has been a game-changer for the industry. The impact of Covid-19 has probably accelerated this element to what it is supposed to be.

Overall, I feel I personally speak for a lot of female colleagues when we say we want equal opportunity. We are almost there, but there is still a lot of disparity. There are certain professions that attract more women than others and this needs to change. I often tell my daughters they can be anything they want to be – this is the attitude we all need to instil in all female generations to come, whether they want to be a leader in the property sector, or an astronaut. It can be done.