A study was released by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org that showed that in corporate America, 1 in 4 women are now considering leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers due to COVID-19.
The report is based on data and insights from 317 companies employing more than 12 million people, along with survey responses from more than 40,000 individual employees. It urges companies to act immediately to avert this potential crisis and includes recommendations for addressing the feelings of burnout and being “always on” for work that many employees are grappling with right now.
According to the study, working mothers are deeply concerned about how COVID-19 will impact their careers. They are more than three times as likely as fathers to be managing most of their family’s housework and caregiving during the pandemic – and twice as likely to worry that their performance will be judged negatively due to their caregiving responsibilities. They are also far more likely to feel uncomfortable sharing work-life challenges with colleagues – or that they’ve got children at home.
The study also points out that Black women were already having a distinct – and by and large worse – experience at work. Compared to other women of other races and ethnicities, Black women face more systemic barriers, receive less support from managers, and experience more acute discrimination. Now, the difficult events of 2020 are disproportionally impacting Black women.
They are more than twice as likely than women over all to say that the death of a loved one has been one of their biggest challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. And incidents of racial violence across the U.S. have exacted a heavy emotional toll on all Black employees. On top of this, for many Black women, work isn’t a supportive place. Compared to other employees, Black women feel more excluded at work and are less likely to say they can bring their whole selves to work.
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