Black employees had the highest unemployment rate in June 2021 with 9.2%, with Latinx and Indigenous employees following a close lead. This rate came after the job market in the US has started stabilizing a bit, but not for the people of color. Women have disproportionately been affected by the pandemic with 13 million fewer women in employment as compared to 2019. On the other hand, the men’s employment will have recovered to 2019 levels. Not to forget that this divide is exacerbated for women of color, especially black women. Between 2019 and 2020, women’s employment declined by 4.2 percent globally, representing a drop of 54 million jobs. Black and Hispanic employees faced 1.6 to 2.0 times the unemployment rates of their white counterparts.
This goes on to show that coming back to the job market is tougher for women after the pandemic. The same job market that was already difficult for women of color. A recent report by McKinsey and Oxford Economics indicates that women may not be able to recover their jobs to the pre-pandemic level by 2024. So, what makes coming back to the job market tougher for women after the pandemic?
The Increased Burden Of Unpaid Care:
One of the main drivers of this disparity and the high unemployment rate is the added burden of unpaid labor and care that women, especially of color, have to face during the pandemic. The disproportionate division of household chores including cleaning, cooking, managing the house combined with the added task of childcare, homeschooling, and taking care of the parents and other elders has affected women mostly. Women on average already did almost twice as much unpaid care as men pre-pandemic that the COVID-19 crisis has deepened this inequality chasm.
The massive responsibility of being a caregiver at home and the work responsibilities was the reason that 1 in 4 women considered leaving their workplace or downshifting their careers in 2020 in corporate America. This is 40% of mothers compared to only 27% fathers who had 3 or more increased hours of caregiving in their schedule every day. This made up 15 or more hours in the week, which can be considered equivalent to almost a part-time job. Now the routine might be returning to normal with schools re-opening, but people of color have been so severely hit by the pandemic financially, medically and loss of life that finding new jobs immediately or hiring help still aren’t possible options.
Statistics on remote workers reveal that more than 4.7 million people work remotely at least half the time in the United States. 1 in 4 Americans over 26% of the American workforce were expected to be working remotely in 2021. Furthermore, it is also estimated that 22% of the workforce (36.2 Million Americans) will work remotely by 2025. Thirty-nine percent of Asian/Asian-American women indicate they think remote work will result in fewer networking opportunities. Only 25 percent of white women and women of mixed ethnicities, 14 percent of Black women, and 12 percent of Hispanic/Latina women share this sentiment. Moreover, only 35 percent of Black women, 28 percent of Asian/Asian-American women, and 25 percent of Hispanic/Latina women believe that they can be productive while working from home.
On the other hand, only one in six Hispanic workers (15.2%) and one in five Black workers (20.4%) were able to telework due to COVID, compared with one in four white workers (25.9%). These statistics prove the disparities women of color have to face when working from home.
There Is Already A Wide Leadership Gap:
The underrepresentation of women of color in the leadership was already dominant, but the slow return of women in the workforce post-pandemic can take years to fill that gap. By stepping off the ladder due to Covid, it could take years for women of color to climb the corporate ladder again. The disparities in hiring and promotions were huge pre-pandemic but they may have become insurmountable post-pandemic. This has become one of the main reasons for women to change careers or industries
Even before the pandemic, only 1 in 5 direct reports to the CEO were women and this includes white women. The number is staggeringly low for women of color. Nearly, 154,000 Black women left the labor force in December 2020, a concerning sign of a lack of employment opportunities and overwhelming caregiving demands. There is less support for women of color to rejoin the workforce and start their careers from where they left off post-pandemic. They were already suffering from bias, discrimination, and pay inequity, now with less support, they have to fight for their positions from ground zero.
Employers Aren’t Doing Anything To Help:
The Black and Hispanic employees had the highest unemployment rate throughout the pandemic. They had higher death rates in their families and their communities as well. So, what did employers do to offer support and help them with this transition of working from home or being “essential workers” and looking after home as well? Nothing. Workplaces did not modify their practices in order to offer support to Black, Latina, and Indigenous women. Not only were they laid off, but for those employed they were struggling from lack of employer support.. Most companies haven’t realized the importance of optimizing the experience for women of color, offering them support, and helping them with their struggles during the pandemic.
There haven’t been any initiatives dedicated to improving retention and helping underrepresented employees overcome the losses and disparities they faced during the pandemic. Most of the companies haven’t offered any support, help with childcare, financial assistance, or teleworking options for women of color who have been struggling. There is no surprise that coming back to the job market isn’t easy for them because the increased bias and discrimination still persist.
