With the world in various stages of a shutdown for well over a year now, I find myself wondering who have been the biggest workforce losers from the pandemic?
The answer breaks my heart:
Women.
It has taken half a century for women to make strides in the workplace in terms of earnings, equality, and potential. And in a matter of months, COVID-19 has threatened to unravel a vast amount of our progress.
One group of women who are particularly at risk are those in professional fields who are married with children. Generally, mothers have always handled more childrearing than fathers. But it has become further lopsided in a locked-down society.
This is because the added pressure of being the full-time educator, entertainer, and caretaker – on top of sustaining a 9-to-5, has forced many women to reduce their working hours or stop working altogether. In fact, more than one in four women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce entirely, according to a study of 317 companies released in late 2020.
So, what does this mean for you and your business?
With over 60% of higher education graduates being women, this means your talent pool is being stripped of your most intelligent and most accredited employees–simply because they are burning out.
To make matters worse, many employees are terrified right now of losing their jobs, so they are suffering in silence.
To keep this valuable part of your workforce, you must adjust your output requirement, create a safe space for your employees to vocalize their stressors, and make sure they feel supported.
I guarantee that if you do not follow through on this, your top performers will find companies where they feel heard and valued–and they will leave you for them.
Don’t let the effects of shutdowns and COVID damage your pipeline – and set women in the workforce back decades.
How can you create a safe space for your team to open up to you?
If you need help implementing programs to protect your workforce, let’s chat!
