Opinion: Quick action needed to keep women in the workforce

Although we collectively faced 2020, the list is long of why this year didn’t impact us all the same way. That partially stems from factors like economic and ‌employment status, industry, race, age, family makeup and gender.

Here’s a startling stat that highlights one area of inequity: The U.S. economy lost 140,000 jobs in December, and all of them were held by women.

That’s from a National Women’s Law Center analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. In the first month of job losses since a rebound began in May 2020, women were reported to have lost 156,000 jobs and men gained a net 16,000.

There has been extensive reporting over the past year of how this pandemic has disproportionately affected women, and even more so women of color. Some have named it a “shecession.” By contrast, the Great Recession was dubbed a “mancession” as job losses were most prevalent in construction and manufacturing.

The cause of the female labor force dropping to a 33-year low and the female unemployment rate hitting double digits for the first time is multifaceted. One reason is the hospitality, education and retail industries, which employ more women and minorities, were especially hard hit by this pandemic.

And then there’s the “double shift” concept, as women often are the primary caregivers of children and elderly family members. The Center for American Progress finds that the majority of kids’ parents work, and typically it’s a mother who stays home when a child is born or is sick, or an elderly parent needs to be taken to the doctor. New reasons to stay home with kids such as school closures and mandated quarantines have heightened these demands.

In early 2020, BLS data had women holding slightly more jobs than men for only the second time in history. But by the end of 2020, women lost 5.4 million jobs compared with 4.4 million for men.

Economists and women’s advocates are now questioning how long it will take for women to return to their previous employment rates.

McKinsey & Co.’s Women in the Workplace 2020 study describes this as an emergency for corporate America, adding that 1 in 4 women are now considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce entirely because of the toll of the past year.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, let’s take this as an opportunity to consider the implications of losing millions of members of our female workforce. Consider not only the economic blow but also the loss of progress and potential.

McKinsey & Co. outlines six considerations for companies to retain the women most affected by COVID-19, which also happens to work well for males, too. I’ve highlighted three here, but you can find them all at WomenInTheWorkplace.com.

1. Make work more sustainable. Consider if workloads and performance expectations set before COVID-19 remain realistic. Consider offering “COVID-19 days” before the start of the school year.

2. Reset norms around flexibility. Set expectations for when employees are on or off the clock and encourage employees to utilize work from home to make a flexible schedule.

3. Adjust policies to better support employees. Many companies are now offering extended paid-time off. But there is a gap between what employees are aware of and what’s offered – and also what employees feel like they have permission to use. Most companies also offer mental health counseling, but only half of employees reported knowing about it.

We’ve just spent the past year learning how to be flexible in our workplaces. And McKinsey & Co. data show 93% of companies say more jobs can be performed remotely. We’ve learned that roles can be adapted without compromising excellence.

As vaccines become available to more people and we’re tempted to return to normal, let’s instead commit to harnessing the opportunity to make our workplaces more accessible to all and keeping women at the table.

Springfield Business Journal Features Editor Christine Temple can be reached at ctemple@sbj.net.