It is now well-known that the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women in the workforce. They face the crushing pressures of working from home in demanding professional jobs while juggling family obligations that tend to fall on their shoulders more than their male counterparts. They also dominated the sectors that had the pandemic impacted most significantly – retail, food services, health care etc. In many cases, women are not only taking care of their children, but also elderly parents and relatives as well, and bearing the brunt of domestic responsibilities. Some have had no choice but to scale back in their jobs, reconsider advancement ambitions, or leave the workforce altogether. Others have excelled in the workplace, either in senior roles or as entrepreneurs. But that has come at a tremendous cost to their mental health and personal lives.
Women face barriers, including microaggression, burnout, pay inequity, discrimination, as well as a lack of mentors and allies. All of these issues have broader economic implications, given the pandemic also laid bare a shortage of skilled labour in Canada. Even as some sectors were decimated, others boomed. Many companies are still struggling to hire the workers they need. Significantly increasing the number of women in business and in senior leadership roles is vital to address this imbalance. Critical to this effort is tailoring upskilling and reskilling training to the realities of women’s needs and lifestyles, confronting discrimination and bias, and setting women up to succeed. A concerted effort to champion women in Canadian business is not just about gender equality, it’s an economic issue. Companies with more women in executive teams are more likely to outperform on profitability, value creation, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement.