Women in the Workplace 2020 Part II – McKinsey Report – Blog Post #400 by Asrar Qureshi

Women in the Workplace 2020 Part II – McKinsey Report – Blog Post #400 by Asrar Qureshi

Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #400. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here.

Continued from Practice……

When we talk about 2020, the most notable discussion will be about COVID19, which started at the end of 2019, but the full brunt came in 2020. The epidemic is not over yet, it is resurging in many parts of the world. 

COVID19 brought with #stayathome and #workfromhome. It has been extended over several months and in some cases, is still staying on and is likely to stay for an indefinite period.

COVID19 is an unprecedented situation which has raised new questions, new terminologies, new stresses and new fears. All that happened since the beginning of COVID19 was always new and unexpected in the sense that no one knew what to expect. 

McKinsey report also highlights the gap between what companies are doing to support employees to work from home, but not doing to take care of stress. 

“Many companies have taken important steps to support employees during the COVID-19 crisis. They are sharing valuable information with employees, including updates on the business’s financial situation and details about paid-leave policies. Almost all companies are providing tools and resources to help employees work remotely. Many have also expanded services related to mental health, such as counseling and enrichment programs, and offered training to help managers support employees’ mental health and well-being.”

“However, fewer companies have taken steps to adjust the norms and expectations that are most likely responsible for employee stress and burnout. Less than a third of companies have adjusted their performance review criteria to account for the challenges created by the pandemic, and only about half have updated employees on their plans for performance reviews or their productivity expectations during COVID-19. That means many employees—especially parents and caregivers—are facing the choice between falling short of pre-pandemic expectations that may now be unrealistic, or pushing themselves to keep up an unsustainable pace.”

“However, fewer companies have taken steps to adjust the norms and expectations that are most likely responsible for employee stress and burnout. Less than a third of companies have adjusted their performance review criteria to account for the challenges created by the pandemic, and only about half have updated employees on their plans for performance reviews or their productivity expectations during COVID-19. That means many employees—especially parents and caregivers—are facing the choice between falling short of pre-pandemic expectations that may now be unrealistic, or pushing themselves to keep up an unsustainable pace.”

Another very important aspect is that COVID19 may push many mothers out of the workforce.

“Decades of research shows that women do significantly more housework and childcare than men—so much so that women who are employed full-time are often said to be working a “double shift.”4Now women, and mothers in particular, are taking on an even heavier load. Mothers are more than three times as likely as fathers to be responsible for most of the housework and caregiving during the pandemic. In fact, they’re 1.5 times more likely than fathers to be spending an additional three or more hours per day on housework and childcare.”

“Meanwhile, for the one in five mothers who don’t live with a spouse or partner, the challenges are even greater. Unsurprisingly, single mothers are much more likely than other parents to do all the housework and childcare in their household, and they are also more likely to say that financial insecurity is one of their top concerns during the pandemic.”

“Meanwhile, for the one in five mothers who don’t live with a spouse or partner, the challenges are even greater. Unsurprisingly, single mothers are much more likely than other parents to do all the housework and childcare in their household, and they are also more likely to say that financial insecurity is one of their top concerns during the pandemic.”

Pakistan is a mixture of contradictions about women working. At one end of the spectrum are those who are deadly against it and at the other end are those who would give an eye to protect women’s right to work. In between, there are all kinds of thoughts. Despite these anomalies, lot of women are almost forced to work to support families. They work full time in offices and field and do full work at home also. When they have children, they will also take of the children all by themselves. The contradiction is that women’s work may be frowned upon, but the income they bring home is grabbed with greed. The stress on women is therefore huge and multifactorial.

To be Continued……

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace#