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Despite the recent developments in the women's game, gender disparity in football continues to be one of the biggest challenges affecting women players.

According to a study by FIFPro:

• Women footballers earn the lowest salaries in football
• 47% of women footballers have no employment contract
• 46% of women footballers combine their sporting career with education / work
• 90% of women footballers leave football early due to a lack of opportunities

Against this background, it's vital that the pathway for female players to a new career once they hang up their boots, is as smooth and effective as possible, with the minimum of stress.

With this in mind, Women in Football were delighted at the Adecco Group's fantastic #WhatIf pledge:

#WhatIf the global leading HR solutions partner supported women footballers in their career development and transition from competitive sports to a broader labour market?

By way of introduction, the Adecco Group is the world’s leading HR solutions partner, providing more than 700,000 people with permanent and flexible employment every day. Serving more than 100,000 organisations with the talent, HR services and cutting-edge technology they need to succeed in an ever-changing global economy. But that’s not all the Adecco Group does!

Through co-operation with Athlete 365 Career + and the IPC Athlete Career Programme, a holistic programme model has been developed supporting over 45,000 athletes worldwide over 13 years. The programme empowers athletes to maximise their education and employment opportunities and helps them stride confidently into a dual or post-sports career.

It supports athletes at all stages of their career, helping them discover their potential and plan for their life beyond the world of competitive sport through a blend of advice, training and peer-to-peer learning. 

And now, in partnership with the Adecco Group, we are delighted to announce a 1.5-day workshop, under the Players' Future Initiative:

Date: Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 December

Place: Twitter HQ, 20 Air Street, London W1B 5DL

The workshop, which is free, will build on the key employability topics identified for athlete career transition, tailored to focus on the needs and requirements of today's modern female footballers.

Applications are invited from clubs wishing to send their professional and senior women's players who are preparing for career transition to the workforce; and younger women footballers who are seeking an understanding of what it means to have a dual career. The workshop is tailored to those playing at a professional or semi-professional level.

Invitations are also encouraged from individual players who would like to take part.

This in-depth, confidence-building workshop will enable players to learn the following skills:

• General introduction to employability and career development
• Managing a dual career
• Entrepreneurship
• Career discovery
• CV building
• Managing interviews
• Social media, personal branding and LinkedIn

Day 1 (Tuesday 3 December) will begin at 9am with refreshments and registration before the workshop starts. You will be introduced to your personalised career development topics, all delivered by Adecco's fantastic training staff, who will be on hand to answer your questions and give you personalised career advice. Lunch will be served at 12pm and your day will end at 4.30pm.

Day 2 (Wednesday 4 December) will begin at 9am and carries on from Day 1, giving players a chance to reflect on learnings from the previous day, and make plans for next steps in their career. Refreshments will be served throughout the morning. The workshop will wrap up at 12pm.

All refreshments and lunch on Day 1 will be kindly provided by our friends at Twitter HQ.

If this is something that your club, or you as a player, would like to take part in, don't delay because places are limited.

In the first instance, please email cassie@womeninfootball.co.uk to register your club's interest (letting us know how many players you would like to attend the workshops and their contact details), or your own personal interest as a player, no later than 5pm on Friday 18 October 2019.

Applicants will be contacted with a short questionnaire asking about your current career interests and ambitions. This will be shared with Adecco to ensure the workshops are tailored to the participants' needs.

We do hope you can join us in December for what should be an engaging, lively and ultimately career-enhancing 1.5-day workshop.

Many thanks to the Adecco Group for their amazing pledge and assistance in turning it into reality.

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