Abstract
Women shoulder the dual responsibilities of managing their households and professional commitments, which was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate women's experiences in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic, utilising a qualitative approach within an exploratory and interpretivist paradigm. The research adopts a case study methodology focusing on women at different levels of seniority at one of South Africa's leading banks. In-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen women using Microsoft Teams. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the collected data, resulting in four themes and thirteen sub-themes. The four themes include i) changes in the working model, ii) organisational support, iii) continued career growth, and iv) work-life conflict. Findings indicate that women in the case organisation perceive the remote working model as advantageous, increasing productivity and improved integration of professional and personal roles. The emergence of work-life conflict was noted as a disadvantage to this new model. Although the case organisation provided some support, there is room for improvement. This study offers valuable insights for the financial services sector regarding women's experiences and areas for improvement. The research contributes to the existing body of knowledge and presents a conceptual model for organisations to support female employees working remotely.