Ending Remote Work Has Major Consequences for Women
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Five years ago, when the COVID pandemic forced all non-essential workers to stay home, American families were swiftly forced to reorganize themselves.
Suddenly, they had no childcare, no school, and no support system to help them navigate an unprecedented moment in their lifetimes. But just as unexpectedly, parents and caregivers whose jobs could be performed remotely had something relatively novel: the ability to work from home.
For many mothers who could take advantage of remote work, it was a burden and blessing that ultimately became indispensable. Once their kids went back to daycare or school, the flexibility of working from home often meant they could better juggle the many demands on their time, including the disproportionate amount of housework they perform compared to their male partners.
"There was a massive amount of efficiencies that happened in terms of managing lives during the pandemic, ironically," says Susan MacKenty Brady, CEO of the Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership.
Now, some business leaders, and even the president of the United States, are determined to roll back workplace flexibility.
In January, President Donald Trump declared that government employees would be required to return to their workplace. Last month, in a company town hall, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimond offered a profanity-laced explanation for why his employees had to work five days a week in-person again. Amazon and AT&T, among other companies, have also called employees back to the office.
Proponents say working in person full-time will boost productivity, but experts say that women will pay a unique price.
[...] Reporting back to the office full-time doesn't mean that home and community responsibilities suddenly disappear. There are still kids who need to be promptly picked up from after-school care, dogs that need walking, errands that must be run, doctors' appointments that can't be missed, and so on.
Whereas mothers (and fathers) could previously use time spent commuting on some of these tasks, now they're back in their cars or riding public transportation. When flexibility vanishes, MacKenty Brady says the answer is often to buy more childcare. That only puts additional pressure on households to earn more to afford care while also creating fresh tension for mothers who feel spread thin.
MacKenty Brady says it's rare to hear corporate leaders publicly acknowledge these pressures, even as their insistence on in-person work could actually diminish productivity and engagement by increasing stress and exhaustion.
[...] MacKenty Brady says that despite the emphasis on getting back to the office full-time, offering flexible work options is a no-brainer, because women are essential to the American workforce. In other words, alienating them is no strategy for a company's financial success.
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