“Twice as vulnerable as men’s jobs in the face of the economic fallout from the pandemic”, the place of women in the world of work is “increasingly threatened”, indicates a study evaluating the effects of the health crisis on inclusion at work. Faced with alarming statistics, the two authors from Concordia University see an opportunity for change, provided that companies answer the call.
According to a Royal Bank of Canada report, published in 2021, “12 times more women than men had to take time off work to care for their children” during the pandemic. As a result, many have resigned, while others, not benefiting from an adequate working environment, have lost their jobs.
While several companies have long applied policies aimed at integration and diversity, the American firm McKinsey already considered before the pandemic that the efforts were not sufficient. Today, “the immense job losses suffered by women during COVID-19 may have erased decades of work to promote gender equality”, fear researchers Steven Appelbaum and Shirin Emadi-Mahabadi, who co-authored the study.
Adding to family constraints, “the forced closures during the pandemic have caused some sectors, such as catering, sales and customer service, as well as lower-skilled office jobs, to suffer enormously”, areas where women and other minorities are “disproportionately represented,” the study reads.
“We must reward these women who have survived COVID-19, not the disease, but this period spent juggling children, full-time work and grandparents,” said Professor Steven Appelbaum, who has supervised the study. I’m not talking about money, but about career opportunities. »
Recognized for their strengths such as “intuition, sympathy and understanding”, women would be given important roles only in times of crisis, the more prosperous jobs being given to men. However, women “have traits [de caractère] incredible, but not only. They also have skills,” underlines Mr. Appelbaum.
Turning crisis into opportunity
“Companies need to ask themselves, ‘Where do we go now? Are we going to allow gender equality to stagnate, to regress, or are we going to act to improve it?”, says Shirin Emadi-Mahabadi, who, while conducting the research, saw in the current situation an opportunity of change.
The researchers’ recommendation? Allow teleworking. A solution, in the short term, which would facilitate the reintegration into the world of work for women who had to “leave their job, or move far from the city”. A forced and sudden return to the office, in their case, would be very difficult.
“Our message is not that women should stay at home,” explains the master’s student in business administration. There should be some flexibility and understanding of their personal circumstances to allow them to return to the job market,” she adds.
Businesses need to ask themselves “Where do we go now? Are we going to allow gender equality to stagnate, to regress, or are we going to act to improve it?”
Also wishing for a change, Mr. Appelbaum issued a warning. “Organizations can talk about inclusion, but talking about it is different from doing something about it. The risk is that after the pandemic, the pursuit of profit becomes a priority, to the detriment of inclusion.
Also focusing on economic issues, Ms.me Emadi-Mahabadi sounds the alarm. If no action is taken, global GDP could fall, by 2030, by 1000 billion dollars more than if the pandemic affected women as well as men, again citing the rapport de McKinsey.
“It’s not just an issue in North America,” concludes Shirin Emadi-Mahabadi. The departure of all this workforce is going to have a global impact. […] We have to ask ourselves what is the way forward now. What can we do instead of letting it flow? Here are the facts, here is the research. What are we doing now ? »
This content is produced in collaboration with Concordia University.
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