Tech must swap office perks for real support for women

For years, tech culture equated support at work with perks. Game rooms, sleeping pods and onsite chefs were highly visible benefits that were easy to market. But they were never a substitute for the policies that actually enable people, particularly women, to thrive.

If the tech sector is serious about supporting women at work, the focus needs to shift from surface-level incentives to systems built on trust, flexibility and choice. 

The real barriers

The challenges women face at work are well documented and largely structural. In Australia, women are twice as likely as men to work part-time, often not by choice but because it's their only viable option alongside unpaid caregiving. The World Economic Forum's 2025 Gender Gap Report also tells us that women take career breaks far more often and for longer periods, largely due to family and health responsibilities.

These realities don't reflect a lack of ambition or capability. They reflect workplace systems built around narrow stereotypes of career progression, one that doesn't match how most people's lives unfold. Addressing this gap isn't about asking women to be more resilient or "lean in". It's about designing work in a way that removes unnecessary barriers and keeps people connected when life becomes complex.

Over my career, I've seen many instances of how practical support can make the difference between someone stepping away permanently or staying engaged through a difficult period. Last year, an Australia-based employee navigating a high-risk pregnancy and extended hospital care was able to focus on recovery and her child's health journey, rather than financial stress. This was made possible by significantly reduced medical costs under Block's comprehensive, heavily subsidised healthcare plan. It may sound like a perk, but it's also practical support that makes it possible for people to stay in their roles during challenging periods.

Trust as a strategy

Trust is often framed as a corporate cultural value, but it's a strategic choice. We operate on a distributed-first model with no mandated office attendance, where geographic flexibility plays an important role. Employees choose where they can deliver their best work – at home, in the office, or a mix of both. 

For women managing caregiving responsibilities, health needs, or geographic constraints, this autonomy can be career-defining. One Melbourne-based employee was able to relocate interstate to support her partner's career without sacrificing her own role. The work stayed the same, but the assumptions around where it had to happen did not. That's what structural support looks like.

The ability to work from different locations, even temporarily, removes forced trade-offs between career and family. It allows people to follow opportunity, manage care responsibilities, or simply live where life makes sense. And that autonomy drives engagement and retention.

Designing for real lives

Flexibility must extend beyond location. Life doesn't move in straight lines, and careers shouldn't either.

Parental leave is a good example. Traditional models assume a fixed block of leave followed by a full-time return to work. But in reality, families need different arrangements at different stages. Some parents return quickly but require flexibility over months. Others need to stagger leave between partners. Leave policies should reflect how modern families actually work, rather than expecting them to fit outdated templates.

The same applies to time off more broadly. Moving away from rigid accruals and monitoring toward more autonomy-based leave sends a clear message: we trust you to manage your time and deliver your work. That matters most to people managing health issues, caregiving, or major life transitions – which we know disproportionately impacts women.

Why this matters now

The stakes are rising, with cost-of-living pressures reshaping where and how people can afford to live. Women continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of caregiving responsibilities, supporting both children and aging parents. Flexible work enables employees to make sustainable choices without stepping off the career ladder. Subsidised healthcare prevents personal crises from becoming financial ones. And flexible leave reduces the attrition when work and life collide.

At the same time, parts of the tech sector are pulling back. Mandated returns to the office risk undoing recent gains made in workforce participation and retention, particularly for women. Progress on gender parity has been real but slow. At the current pace, global parity remains more than a century away, so the choices companies make now will either accelerate that progress or stall it.

For leaders, the message is pretty straightforward: policies that respect people's lives don't just support women, they build more engaged and sustainable organisations. That's not a trade-off; it's a practical investment towards long-term performance and growth. 

And that's what real support looks like.