As COVID continues, employers search for ways to ease strain on workers

With the COVID-19 pandemic stretching into its third year, employers and employees alike can look back on many lessons learned. Workers have been able to master Zoom meetings and remote or hybrid working, and many on-site workers have adjusted to wearing masks, social distancing, and frequent handwashing. But just becoming accustomed to the new normal doesn’t relieve the stress so many suffer. Some deal with the strain by leaving the workforce, while others soldier on but in a less productive and certainly less satisfying way.

Researchers note that women often suffer the most since dealing with school and childcare disruptions often falls on them. Also, women often are the low-wage “essential” workers who face the most exposure to the virus while having the least flexibility in their work arrangements.

Workers aren’t alone in their stress. Employers also feel the strain, but they aren’t powerless in their efforts to help.

Changes brought on by the pandemic

A report from research and public policy organization the Brookings Institution released in September 2021 looks at the impact the pandemic has had on women’s employment. It points out that at the beginning of the pandemic, women held the majority of nonfarm payroll jobs in the United States. But women, especially minority women, were more likely than men to be in jobs requiring in-person work.