COVID-19 & Jobs: A Year Later

For women, job burnout has become a reality. The rate of job burnout is rising much faster among women compared to men. It has been reported that 42% of women feel burnout, while men are reported at 35% of feeling burnout. This gap has doubled since last year on reported job burnout (32% of women and 27% of men).

“A few months into the pandemic, one in four women said they had considered downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce for a year.” What is worse is now that number has jumped, with one in three women saying they are considering downshifting in careers. Why is this happening? Why are women feeling more pressured to step back in their careers?

The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on employees and the workforce. Millions ended up losing their jobs, while others had to shift to working from home. It was a hard transition, and people ended up putting in more hours working from home than they initially did before the pandemic hit. Unfortunately, for women in the workforce, the situation was even worse. When job layoffs occurred, women were hit harder than men. In addition, women had to take on more of the childcare responsibilities when daycare and schools closed. As a result, many of the women who left the workforce during the pandemic have not returned. Furthermore, women who have returned to the workforce have been unable to find jobs with the same status and pay they originally had before COVID-19.

One of the causes of job burnout in the workplace is the feeling of needing to be “on” all the time. Some women feel they have no flexibility to take time off from work. Or the time to step away from the computer. They think they have to be available to their supervisors and coworkers 24/7. For some reason, women tend to believe that to get ahead in the workforce, they have to put in longer hours than their male counterparts.

It does appear that companies are trying to fix the problems to decrease job burnout from employees. For example, some companies have incorporated mental health benefits, support for parents and caregivers, and offered more paid leave. However, burnout continues to increase among women. To help combat this specific issue, employers will need to take the time and effort to listen to what their employees have to say and incorporate creative solutions to decrease job burnout for female employees.

Source: https://money.com/job-burnout-women-men-pandemic/

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