Women in the Workplace: The Impact COVID-19 Pandemic is Having on Women

Nov 14, 2022

Submitted by Lucinda Lew

Launched in 2015 by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org, Women in the Workplace is a comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate America. This year, the Women in the Workplace 2020 report focuses on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on women at work – including working mothers, women in senior leadership and women of different races and ethnicities.

Though steady progress for women’s representation has been made in recent years, COVID-19 pandemic has turned workplaces upside down. We are faced with many challenges including layoffs and furloughs especially in the industries hardest hit by COVID-19, the longer workday perception where we feel the need to be “always on”, childcare and online learning. At the start of 2020, women accounted for 47% of entry level positions, yet only 21% of C-Suite positions. Now, one in four women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to COVID-19. These are the realities we face in 2020 and there is risk that if higher rates of women than men leave the workforce, fewer women will advance to leadership roles.

Read the latest report at https://womenintheworkplace.com/.