This Women’s History Month, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) celebrates the incredible contributions women have made to shaping our nation. Women are driving progress and change as breadwinners, leaders in their communities, and trailblazers across industries. The first woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet as U.S. Secretary of Labor was Frances Perkins and she advocated for the minimum wage, 40-hour work week, and Social Security. Women today continue to be on the frontlines of the movement for workers’ rights and equal opportunity. 

Today, women still face systemic barriers to equal opportunity despite tremendous progress. The unfortunate gender wage gap means women working full-time typically earn nearly $400,000 less than men over the course of their lifetimes. Women also experience workplace challenges like harassment as well as pregnancy and caregiving discrimination that affect their ability to obtain jobs and advance in their fields. Additionally, women are working to regain ground lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 217,000 fewer women in the labor force today than before the pandemic.

At OFCCP we advance gender equality throughout our work, including through our enforcement efforts. In the last two fiscal years, we recovered $33.9 million in backpay and salary adjustments on behalf of over 10,600 women jobseekers and workers. For example, in August 2022, the agency entered into a conciliation agreement with Esri, a digital mapping and analytics company, for $2.3 million in back pay and interest to resolve allegations of gender-based pay discrimination against 176 female engineers.

We also promote equal opportunity for women by removing barriers to accessing good jobs. As America invests in its infrastructure and the economy through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS and Science Act, there is a historic opportunity to create good jobs for women and their families. This year, we will launch our Mega Construction Project (Megaproject) Program, which will foster equal opportunity in the construction trades workforce of federal contractors and subcontractors on large, federally funded construction projects. From the earliest stages of a Megaproject, OFCCP engages a wide range of stakeholders in the community to remove hiring barriers and promote consideration of a diverse pool of qualified workers for jobs. Megaproject engagement can provide immediate impact on contractor and subcontractor recruitment and hiring practices, providing women with access to good jobs with fair pay in traditionally male-dominated occupations.

As President Biden stated in his Proclamation on Women’s History Month, “Let us strive to create a Nation where every woman and girl knows that her possibilities know no bounds in America.” Our society is stronger when everyone has a seat at the table and has the tools to succeed. On this Women’s History Month and in every month, OFCCP remains committed to rooting out discrimination and expanding equal employment opportunity for all.