Sabrina Ho: Women, seek and embrace your ikigai

We’re at an exciting juncture at present. We’ve been battling the pandemic for over two years, and while this may not be the beginning of the end, it seems to be the end of the beginning. Everything that changed from 2020 onwards has finally started to sink in – we’re now moving into a stage of retrospection, recalibration and resilience.

The last two years have also brought to focus how out of balance the world truly is. The pandemic hit everyone differently, and still, women, on average, are disproportionately disadvantaged.

I’m often asked whether supporting women’s employment has gotten easier in the last two years. I think it has – especially with flexible work and work-from-home options becoming the norm in today’s hybrid ecosystem. There is also a mentality shift and cultural component to all of this. Women have always been assigned the role of the primary caregiver. That is a demanding role to fulfil, especially while juggling a career. The key is to find a balance that helps women succeed in these socially assigned roles, and progress their careers in a way that makes sense for them.

We started Half The Sky in 2019, and we had an interesting perspective as the pandemic unfolded – people lost jobs, organisations lost talent, and we were all suddenly trying to piece together an ever-changing puzzle board. We witnessed the commitment of some organisations trying hard to help women not just survive, but thrive and succeed at work. It was exciting and enriching to see them willing to go the extra mile to ensure that their employees’ needs were met. So, there is hope, my fellow women! While we’re not there yet, at least we are somewhere on the journey to an equal future.