Boots CEO says his 5-day office return will create a ‘fun’ workplace; working moms are unlikely to agree

At the same time, the British retail chain boasted that it was celebrating “everyday extraordinary team members” for International Women’s Day.

Reams of research tell us that the two initiatives are at odds with one another. A fifth of women say that flexibility has helped them keep their roles or avoid reducing their hours, according to an analysis by McKinsey. King’s College London similarly found that mothers who work flexibly report greater career progression than those who do not.

Women’s caregiving duties and the extraordinary cost of childcare combined with the nagging gender pay gap all factor into women’s desire for more flexible work. (Male Boots employees earn an hourly pay that’s 18.2% higher than women’s on average, according to its Gender Pay Gap report.)

About a quarter of a million mothers in Britain have left their jobs in recent years because of the difficulty of juggling a career and childcare, according to the Fawcett Society. Meanwhile, over 40% of the mothers surveyed had turned down a promotion or career development opportunity because they worried it would not fit with childcare arrangements.

It’s why Boots may lose many of the “extraordinary” employees it sought to celebrate on IWD as a result of its toughened return-to-work stance.

In fact, there are reportedly signs that that’s already happening. Molly Johnson-Jones, CEO of the flexible working platform Flexa, posted on LinkedIn that thousands of Boots workers had identified themselves as #opentowork on the networking site since the company’s return-to-office announcement. (LinkedIn declined to comment.)

“We really value the team spirit that comes with being together in person,” a Boots spokesperson told Fortune. “There will of course still be times when working from home is necessary for either personal or business reasons.” 

While many businesses have been encouraging workers back to their desks, hybrid working is still popular. Around half of job ads on LinkedIn in the U.K. are listed as hybrid, a figure that’s increased every month. As a result, women in the U.K. are putting in more time at work than ever.

If James is really seeking an “inspiring” workplace—not to mention a productive one—he may want to reconsider the toll the new return-to-office policy will have on Boots’ majority female workforce.

More news below.

Orianna Rosa Royle
@oriannarosa 
orianna.royle@fortune.com

TOP NEWS

Klarna: the next Google? 

Klarna is taking inspiration from Google as it considers going public "quite soon," its chief executive said. "[Google] was a global company, but it was also a company who had the majority of its growth ahead of itself, right. And I think that that’s been the timing we’ve been looking for,” CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said. The Swedish buy-now-pay-later startup plans to launch an IPO that would value the firm at around $20 billion. Bloomberg

Novo soars

Pharma giant Novo Nordisk last week reported encouraging trial data on its new weight-loss pill, aiding it in the race against rivals Zealand Pharma and Eli Lilly. Participants taking the pill, called amycretin, shed 13.1% of their weight in 12 weeks compared to Wegovy patients who lost 6% of their weight in the same period. Novo shares soared on the news, briefly pushing its market cap ahead of Tesla's. Fortune

British billionaire’s bonanza

Billionaire Richard Branson stands to receive around $539 million (£420 million) if bank Nationwide takes over rival Virgin Money, which Branson partly owns. If Nationwide dissolves the Virgin Money name (that Branson coined in 1972) after four years, Branson could pocket an additional $321 million (£250 million) as part of an “exit fee.” The potential tie-up could be a breakthrough for Nationwide that makes the high street bank one of the largest mortgage and savings groups in the U.K. Fortune

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

The best is yet to come: These women are leading Europe’s biggest companies, proving success has no limits by Prarthana Prakash and Aslesha Mehta

Europe can compete with New York on public listings with one simple tweak—by adding more ‘razzmatazz’ and glamor to them, Euronext chief says by Bloomberg

Kate Middleton’s Mother’s Day photo was meant to combat conspiracies. But the ‘attention economy’ is fueling more rumors than ever by Prarthana Prakash

Inflation has battered the toy market—but defiant Lego saw sales climb 4% in 2023: ‘We continue to grow’ by Prarthana Prakash 

EU to treat 5.5 million Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Bolt and other gig economy workers as employees after Belgium breaks deadlock by Bloomberg

The year of Spotify? Streaming giant might have outwitted Apple with David vs Goliath play, and you only need to look at their share prices for proof by Ryan Hogg 

This edition of CEO Weekly Europe was curated by Aslesha Mehta.