Women in the workplace: A career in interim management

One reason why there is a lack of women in the boardroom is because many are becoming interim managers, which allows them to work at a very senior level but enjoy a more flexible work-life balance, suggests Charles Russam.

In January, the TUC claimed that women will be hit hardest by the recession because many work in part-time jobs and in industries such as retail or hospitality which have been affected badly by the downturn.

The TUC's general secretary Brendan Barber said we are in an "equal opportunities recession", compared to the aftermath of Britain's previous economic downturns, when the majority of job losses were based in manufacturing and industry.

Whether or not women will be more badly affected than men remains to be seen, but new patterns of female working in the UK have been evolving for some time.