How the pandemic affected women in the workplace

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, women were already disproportionately disadvantaged across many aspects, especially when it comes to their jobs and livelihood. For instance, progress toward gender equality in work and society stayed relatively flat between 2014 and 2019.

When the pandemic spread worldwide, the gender-based work disparities and vulnerabilities became more pronounced. Women’s jobs became 1.8 times more vulnerable to the pandemic than men’s jobs. Women also accounted for 54% of overall job losses despite making up only 39% of global employment.

Let’s look at how the pandemic has and continues to negatively impact working women.

Juggling work and domestic responsibilities

With gender norms still being observed in most parts of the world, women are expected to juggle their jobs and responsibilities at home or give up the former to focus on the latter during the pandemic. This is especially true in tradition-driven regions such as South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) where women’s share of unpaid care work goes up to 90%.

With children being made to attend classes online as well, working mothers have to facilitate their kids’ education at home on top of doing household chores and their own work. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania pointed out that this is especially true for mothers who worked remotely while their partners worked on-site. With mothers gaining more psychological ownership, they now feel more pressured to fulfill all of their responsibilities with so little resources and time.

Heightened stress during the pandemic

As a result of these added responsibilities, many women are seen experiencing detrimental effects on their health and well-being. For instance, researchers from the University of British Columbia found that women, especially those who are socially isolated and belong in middle or older age groups, going through the stress of the pandemic are more likely to suffer from hypertension.

Another study showed that the number of women whose mental health was affected by the COVID-19 was threefold that of men. Post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression became more prevalent in most women, especially those who also experience domestic violence at home.

It goes without saying that communication is crucial in every workplace. In order to gauge what your female employees need, promote an open-door policy where they can share their feedback and suggestions on making the workplace safe for them. You can do this in different ways, such as conducting organization-wide surveys, scheduling one-on-one or town hall meetings, or setting exit interviews. The important thing here is that you seek feedback before implementing any programs that may do more harm than good.

What can HR leaders do to help women in the workplace?

While companies have no control of what goes on in the personal lives of their female employees, they could instead make organizational changes to suit new needs that emerged during the pandemic. HR leaders are specifically in the position to initiate these changes and make the workplace safer and more comfortable for female employees.

There are many ways HR leaders can help and uplift women in the workplace, such as the following:

• Address the gender pay gap
  A 2020 report showed that factors such as time away from employment, occupational clustering, and the time demands of jobs contribute to the gender wage gap, which persists in many organizations today all over the world. To resolve this issue, HR leaders are recommended to look at the proportion of men and women at each level in their organization and analyze data to see which female employees are unjustly assigned to certain positions or compensated less than their male counterparts. It also helps making equitable job offers and non-gender biased performance reviews, promotions and bonus distributions to ensure that no employee gets left behind financially.

• Provide ​​paid leaves and flexible work arrangements
  With working mothers attending to their children at home in the absence of schools and daycare centers, HR leaders can encourage female employees to consume their paid leaves. HR leaders can also design flexible work arrangements to help working mothers take care of their family without feeling pressured to accomplish their work for a certain amount of time.

  Of course, to maintain productivity and engagement in a flexible work arrangement, HR leaders can organize virtual social events, develop mentorship programs, and promote an open-door policy within their organization.

• Offer reskilling or upskilling opportunities
  HR leaders can speed up the reentry and reengagement in the workforce by providing reskilling or upskilling opportunities within their organization, especially as automation and digital solutions are becoming part of every organization’s operations. As new jobs emerge as a result of the pandemic, female employees would need more learning opportunities to keep up with their male counterparts and the changing business landscape in general.

• Implementation of the Magna Carta of Women on the ground
  HR can also find an ally in the law when supporting women in the workplace. The Magna Carta of Women, for instance, conveys a framework that encourages the “recognition, protection, fulfillment, and promotion of the rights of Filipino women, especially those belonging in the marginalized sectors of the society”. By following this framework, HR leaders can implement policies that abide with the law and assure female employees that they are legally protected in the workplace.

As the world continues to feel the effects of the pandemic, organizations must work hard to recognize their female employees, identify gender-based problems within their organizations, and work to resolve them. Supporting women in the workplace is now more important than ever in the age of diversity and inclusion.