During the pandemic, remote work kept many businesses alive, largely due to the expansion of women in the workplace. Jobs that could be done remotely account for an increase of 1.3 million jobs for women. Will workplace gains for women during COVID remain?
When the pandemic hit in 2020, the economy shut down as many businesses regrouped. Some jobs often held by women not only closed down but left women suddenly told to work from home with a houseful of kids who could go to neither school nor daycare. So many women dropped out of the workforce that it was called a “she-cession” by the New York Times. Many critics feared that many decades of women’s progress in the workforce would be blown away by a COVID sneeze.
This didn’t happen, according to Business Insider. The number of women in the workforce expanded by as many as 1.3 million workers. The reason for what Aaron Terrazas, the chief economist at Glassdoor, called the “magic gift for the labor supply” was remote work. While many women lost jobs in childcare and hospitality, the gains tended to be among white-collar women qualified for jobs that could be done remotely.
Women Workers Helped Many Businesses Survive
Many businesses whose product or service was not considered essential would have had to close down without the availability of female labor. Allowing staff to work remotely saved many companies and household budgets.
While comprehensive statistics on the benefits to businesses from remote work during the pandemic are hard to find, a few available statistics make the point:
- 66% of businesses prevented layoffs do remote work. This includes companies who still had to reduce their workforce.
- Businesses saved up to $22,000 annually per remote worker due to the savings in rent, utilities, cleaning costs, food, and taxes.
- Businesses were compelled to turn to platforms like Zoom, which permanently changed how companies do business and the clients they appeal to due to using platforms like Zoom. The revenues for Zoom alone increased by 326% in the first year of the crisis. Though subsequent years did not bring growth numbers like this, the company still grew 55% for the year ending July 31, 2022, and 7% for the year ending July 31, 2023.
Women, in particular, took to the concept of remote work. When kids were out of school and unable to go to daycare, working at home provided parents with a way to care for their kids while working. Much of the burden fell on working mothers, who assumed more duties than before COVID.
The time savings from not having to commute gave women more time to attend to family matters. They could also manage online meetings at inconvenient times and avoid stereotypical attitudes about pregnancy, new motherhood, and disability. They got promotions and pay raises based on merit, with their bosses filtering motherhood responsibilities into the equation.
Will RTO Mandates Derail Workplace Gains For Women During COVID
While many other countries mandate parental leave and free or affordable access to childcare, the U.S. does not offer a conducive work environment for women. Elite high-paying positions demanded time at the office that women with children and other obligations could not afford. During the pandemic, these people worked from home without compromising their chances for career development and promotion.
Now that many companies are instituting return to office (RTO) policies, this new trend for women may be derailed. Along with jobs, many women still have caregiving responsibilities, which makes remote work particularly appealing. Women tend to like remote work even more than men, as it allows them to better balance their overloaded plate of responsibilities.
If remote work diminishes, we could end up with what Business Insider calls “a two-tier workforce in which women work from home in lower-paid, dead-end roles while men come into the office for higher-paid, management-track positions.”
Will workplace gains for women during COVID be lost?
Hybrid Work And Childcare Coverage Can Protect Workplace Gains
Hybrid work, which often allows for flexibility of hours, can help maintain the progress that women have made. Childcare responsibilities are still major considerations for working parents. Even though women who work out of the office still need childcare services, flexible hours allow them to quickly handle emergencies and then get back to work.
If mom, the banking executive, is working at home while Johnny is in school or daycare, she can still run out to pick him up if he’s sick or take him to soccer practice. If he has to stay home for a day or two, she can adjust her hours to complete her workday while he’s sleeping. Unless her partner is willing and able to help shoulder the responsibility of childcare, even a woman working remotely can be overburdened.
The answer, of course, is assistance with childcare costs coupled with a flexible work schedule. While getting support for this as U.S. policy would be difficult, the answer is for businesses to offer both childcare reimbursement and flexibility as benefits.
Help From Dad
Even if public policy and benefit packages do not meet the needs of female employees, other trends can still help women in the workplace. According to the Pew Research Center, 18% of stay-at-home parents are dads. In the past, 56% of men who stayed home were sick or disabled, versus 4% doing so to care for their kids. Current statistics show that men are more likely to be in school (6%), unable to find work (13%), or ill (33%), but 23% said they were staying home for the family.
Childcare expenses are budget-busting for families, and often, the person with more education and the better-paying job takes the outside job. Men with lower education and earning power are more likely to stay home, but the percentage of those with a bachelor’s degree has increased.
While more men are accepting responsibility for childcare, statistics show that women still are responsible for most of the housework. A recent study even confirmed that women outearning their husbands may do more cooking, cleaning, and laundry than their husbands.
Women and Remote Work After COVID
Remote work has opened the eyes of many women. Firsthand experience of working remotely while dealing with their families has made them question the traditional system of working in the office. Over 90% want to retain the ability to work remotely at least some days a week and see the ability to work remotely is key to gender equality in the workplace so long as they do not have to pay penalties such as lower pay, exclusion from certain jobs, and access to promotions and job mobility.
Traditionally, women with children pay a motherhood penalty when bosses assume that their priority is with their kids and not work. Women who leave the workforce to have children can often not pick up their careers where they left off. Men, on the other hand, who drop out are more easily able to resume their old jobs, find new ones, or maximize gig opportunities on the side.
The pandemic remote work experience should have proved that women can be as productive as men when working remotely. As workers and employees hammer out the logistics of ongoing remote work, women will hopefully be able to build on the recent past to secure and advance their rightful place in the workforce.
