After the industrial revolution, the participation of women has increased in the workforce outside of the home, and a certain increment has been seen in the 20th century. After women started participating in the workplace the economy and the standard of living have also increased.
As per the survey by Deloitte Global, it was claimed out of 10 women, almost 7 women think that they have a negative impact in their routine because of the Covid-19 outbreak and they believe that their career progression has either stopped or slowed down.
In this survey, it was performed on almost 400 working women who were from 9 countries and from different career levels of seniority and different industries. These women claimed that COVID-19 has affected their mental and physical health, daily routine, and their careers. They have lost their work-life balance and well-being. The survey shows how the pandemic could threaten the progress made on gender equality in the workplace in the last few years.
From making flexible working the norm to addressing microaggression in the workplace, there are 6 critical areas to focus on for employers to take actions and ensure that women continue to advance in the workplace, as per the suggestions given from the survey.
The employees including both men and women have either considered leaving and actually left their companies at comparable rates since 2015. But the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic and the new work environment after this pandemic have completely changed that landscape.
The work from home trend started after the COVID-19 pandemic and because of lockdowns and shutdowns in many countries’ women are doing more work from home. As per the survey, 37% of women are opposing work from home because they have to work full time and long that they have to take care of their family.
89% of them believe that their personal life and daily routine have changed and had a huge negative impact. 48% of women claimed that they have to work three times more than pre-COVID-19 levels in caregiving responsibilities.
Working mothers have to take care of both their work, children’s responsibility, and homeschooling responsibilities, so they have to do “double-double” shifts. 40% of working women who experience negative shifts in the daily routine say they are unable to balance their work and life commitments with nearly 40% citing significant consequences to their physical and mental well-being.
Women’s see pandemic as a threat to their working life
Women need to give half of the time to their work which has affected both their personal responsibilities and their careers. Many women reported that if this pandemic and work from home culture will continue then they will either take a career break or leave the workforce entirely.
Companies need to rethink work norms
COVID-19 has a huge impact on women’s representation in both terms of decisions companies made reorganization and potential attrition due to women stepping out of the workforce.
Attrition is not a driver in the difference between men’s and women’s representation, but this could be different next year, possibly as a result of the shift to remote work.
Companies need to take measures and rethink about redesigning their new workplace or else take this risk where women will either struggle to stay at work or will leave the workplace. For both men and women the major issue was Work-life flexibility. Companies across different geographies anticipate that increasing flexibility could allow them to have a large number of customers and clients.
So, managers or leaders need to rethink some previous workplace norms such as what productivity looks like, or supporting employees’ mental health, or fostering inclusion in a remote setting,” says Jess Huang, a co-leader of Women in the Workplace research.
