SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today,
McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org released the annual Women in
the Workplace report, the largest study of its kind. After six
years of slow but measurable progress in the representation of
women in corporate America, 1 in 4 women are now considering
leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers due to
Covid-19. In a single year, this would wipe out all of the
hard-earned gains we've seen for women in management—and unwind
years of progress toward gender diversity.
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.
"If we had a panic button, we'd be hitting it," said Sheryl
Sandberg, COO of Facebook and co-founder of LeanIn.Org. "Leaders
must act fast or risk losing millions of women from the workforce
and setting gender diversity back
years."
Kevin Sneader, global managing
partner at McKinsey & Company, agrees. "This crisis for women
is not going away, but the solutions are within reach," said
Sneader. "Companies need to adapt their strategies to more fully
support women's lives amidst a new world of work."
Covid-19 has been hugely disruptive for all employees. The new
report also highlights the effects of the pandemic on women,
including the distinct challenges for mothers, women in senior
leadership, and Black women.
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.
Senior-level women are juggling huge demands both at work and at
home. Senior-level women are more likely than women at other
levels to be mothers. Senior-level women are also more likely to be
in dual career couples than senior-level men, which means they are
trying to balance work and home without the extra support that a
partner who doesn't work often provides. And they are almost twice
as likely as women at other levels to often be the only or one of
the only women in the room, which often comes with heightened
scrutiny, such as needing to provide additional evidence of their
competence. Likely because of these factors, senior-level women are
more likely than senior-level men to feel "always on" and under
pressure to work more. They are also 1.5 times as likely to think
about leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers—and
almost 3 in 4 cite burnout as a primary reason.
Companies can't afford to lose women leaders. Compared to men at
the same level, senior-level women are more likely to mentor or
sponsor women of color and are more likely to be allies to women of
color—for example, 60 percent of senior-level women say they
publicly acknowledge the work of women of color, compared to only
44 percent of senior-level men. Women in leadership are also more
likely to enlist their peers to support racial equality and take a
public stand in support of it.
Black women were already having a distinct—and by and large
worse—experience at work. Compared to 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 disproportionately impacting
Black women. They are more than twice as likely as women overall 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.
Nothing about 2020 is business as usual. Companies need to take
bold action to make work more sustainable and inclusive for
women—and especially women of color. The Women in the Workplace
report provides specific, concrete steps companies can take,
including embracing flexible working norms, guarding against bias
in performance reviews, communicating openly and empathetically
with employees, and providing training to help managers and
colleagues show up as allies. The report also points to long-term
opportunities. If companies set better norms for remote work—and
build on the programs they are putting in place to help employees
weather this crisis—they can lay the building blocks for a better
workplace.
The complete Women in the Workplace report is available at
womenintheworkplace.com.
KEY FINDINGS
The State of the Corporate Pipeline
We have made slow but steady progress in women's
representation over the past six years. This was most
pronounced in senior management: Between 2015 and the beginning of
2020, the share of women grew from 23 to 28 percent in SVP
roles—and from 17 to 21 percent in the C-suite. Women remained
dramatically underrepresented—particularly women of color—but the
numbers were slowly improving.
However, the "broken rung" is still holding women back.
For the sixth year in a row, women continued to lose ground at the
first step up to manager. For every 100 men promoted to manager,
only 85 women were promoted—and this gap was even larger for some
women: Only 58 Black women and 71 Latinas were promoted.
The Impact of Covid-19
The Covid-19 crisis could erase all the gains women have made
in management and senior leadership since the beginning of this
study. One in four women are considering downshifting their
careers or leaving the workforce because of Covid-19. This is a
sharp departure from past years—in the six years of this research,
women have been leaving their jobs at similar rates as men.
For mothers, Covid-19 has made balancing work and home even
more challenging. Mothers are more than three times as likely
as fathers to be responsible for most of their family's housework
and childcare during Covid-19. On top of this, mothers are more
than twice as likely as fathers to worry that their performance is
being judged negatively because of their caregiving
responsibilities.
Black and Latina mothers are juggling even more. They are
more likely than white working mothers to have a partner that works
full-time outside the home and to handle all of their family's
housework and caregiving.
Senior-level women are under enormous
pressure. Senior-level women are more likely than men at
the same level to feel burned out, under pressure to work more, and
"always on." Several factors are contributing to this dynamic:
Senior-level women are more likely than women at other levels to be
mothers, more likely than senior-level men to have partners who
work full-time, and nearly twice as likely as women overall to be
"Onlys"—the only or one of the only women in the room at work.
Senior-level women have a meaningful impact on company
culture. Compared to senior-level men, they are much more
active allies to women of color. They are more likely than
senior-level men to mentor or sponsor women of color, suggesting
that the loss of senior-level women could impact the whole pipeline
for years to come.
Black women are having a worse experience and
receiving less support. In addition to the heightened
pressures Black women who are mothers and senior leaders are
experiencing, they are dealing with distinct issues because of
their race. And for many, work isn't a supportive place: Fewer than
1 in 3 Black women report their manager has checked in on them in
light of recent racial violence, and a similar number say their
manager has fostered an inclusive culture on their team. Plus,
Black women are far less likely than white colleagues to say they
have strong allies at work. All of this is having an impact on
Black women. 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.
How Companies are Supporting Employees
In many ways, companies are stepping up to support
employees. Companies have taken several steps to support
employees during the Covid-19 crisis. Many are sharing valuable
information with employees, including updates on the company's
financial situation and details about paid leave policies, and have
expanded services related to mental health, such as counseling and
enrichment programs. And almost all companies are providing tools
and resources to help employees work remotely.
However, many companies have not adjusted the expectations
that may be responsible for burnout. Less than a third of
companies have adjusted their performance review criteria to
account for the challenges of Covid-19, and only about half have
updated employees on productivity expectations during the pandemic.
That means many employees—especially those who are parents and
caregivers—are facing the choice between falling short of
pre-pandemic expectations that may now be unrealistic, or pushing
themselves to keep up an unsustainable pace.
The Future of Work
The Covid-19 crisis has prompted companies to rethink
fundamental beliefs about remote work. Ninety-three percent of
companies now say more jobs can be performed remotely,
67 percent predict a significant share of their employees will
work remotely a year from now, and 70 percent think remote work
will allow them to increase diversity in hiring. Employees see
benefits of remote work, too—77 percent say they want to continue
to work from home more often than they did before
Covid-19.
ABOUT THE STUDY
Women in the Workplace 2020 is the
largest comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate
America. Since 2015, McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org have
published this report annually to give companies and employees the
information they need to advance women and improve gender diversity
within their organizations. This year, 317 companies employing more
than 12 million people shared their pipeline data and/or completed
a survey of their HR practices. In addition, more than 40,000
employees were surveyed on their workplace experiences, and we
interviewed women and men of different races and ethnicities, and
LGBTQ+ employees, and women with disabilities for additional
insights. McKinsey & Company also conducted similar research in
2012.
ABOUT LEANIN.ORG
An initiative of the Sheryl Sandberg
& Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, LeanIn.Org aims to drive
systemic change by helping women achieve their ambitions and
working to create a more equal world. LeanIn.Org runs programs to
combat bias, conducts original research, provides free education
materials, advocates for better public policies, and offers support
through Lean In Circles, small groups of peers who meet regularly
to learn and grow together. The Lean In community includes more
than two million women and men and 49,000 Lean In Circles in 183
countries. The Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family
Foundation, which also runs OptionB.Org, is a private operating
nonprofit organization under IRS section 501(c)(3).
ABOUT MCKINSEY & COMPANY
McKinsey & Company is
a global management consulting firm, deeply committed to helping
institutions in the private, public, and social sectors achieve
lasting success. For more than nine decades, the firm's primary
objective has been to serve as our clients' most trusted external
advisor. With consultants in more than one hundred offices in sixty
countries, across industries and functions, McKinsey & Company
brings unparalleled expertise to clients anywhere in the world,
working closely with teams at all levels of an organization to
shape winning strategies, mobilize for change, build capabilities,
and drive successful execution.
MEDIA CONTACT
We are actively monitoring
press@womenintheworkplace.com for press inquiries.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/largest-study-of-women-in-corporate-america-finds-1-in-4-women-are-considering-leaving-the-workforce-or-downshifting-their-careers-due-to-covid-19-301141552.html
SOURCE LeanIn.Org