COVID’s Impact on Women in the Workplace

The pandemic has been disastrous for just about everyone, but for working women, it has been especially dire. According to Women in the Workplace 2020, a recent study from McKinsey & Co. and LeanIn.Org, one in four women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce because of the pandemic, and the challenges facing mothers, senior-level women, and Black women are especially acute.

On March 10, a Booth Women Connect virtual event will explore this important research, convening four leading women in business who will discuss the effects of COVID-19 on their businesses and their careers. Join us to hear from them about their personal and professional experiences during one of the most difficult economic years in history.

Learn more about our panelists below, and read on for key takeaways of the Women in the Workplace study that will be discussed during our virtual event.

5 Ways the Pandemic Affected Workplaces

1. Women worked and were caregivers. Women—who were already outnumbered and overlooked in leadership roles—were forced out of the workplace in staggering numbers to become at-home caregivers. As many as 2 million women considered leaving the workforce last year, according to the September 2020 report, which examined 317 companies and more than 40,000 people across America.

2. Black and Latina mothers are shouldering heavier burdens. They are more likely to be their family’s sole breadwinner or to have partners working outside the home during COVID-19, the report found. They’re also handling more responsibilities at home as well, with Latina mothers 1.6 times more likely than white mothers to be responsible for all childcare and housework, and Black mothers twice as likely to be handling these duties.

3. Parents fell short of expectations at work. While many companies added mental support services, offered remote and flex work, and trained employees to deal with the struggles that the pandemic revealed, fewer than one-third of companies adjusted their performance review criteria to adjust for the pandemic’s effects. As a result, many working parents either fell short of the pre-pandemic expectations, left their jobs, or pushed themselves to an unsustainable pace, the report found.

4. Women gave up their jobs. Given these challenges, a significant number of working mothers have considered or are thinking about leaving the workforce due to their mounting childcare responsibilities. In the McKinsey and LeanIn.Org study, 17 percent of working mothers with kids under the age of 10 and 15 percent of mothers overall are considering downshifting their careers, compared with 13 percent of fathers with kids under 10 and 11 percent of fathers overall. Nearly a quarter of women with kids under 10 are considering leaving the workforce altogether or taking a leave of absence, compared with 13 percent of men.

5. Black women weren’t supported. Only 75 percent of Black women have felt supported by their managers during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with 84 percent of white women. They were less likely than women overall to report that their manager asked about their workload, or took steps to ensure that their work-life needs were met. And less than one-in-three Black women reported that their manager checked in on them in light of the racial violence experienced in 2020.