COVID took toll on working parents; now it's time to repair damage

There's no denying the misery COVID-19 has inflicted in the workplace. Although many employees quickly and successfully adjusted to remote work, others had a rougher time. With schools and daycares closing or going remote, working parents found themselves not just juggling but also struggling.

Handling work and school and caregiving simultaneously has been too much for many workers, and the effort has been especially difficult for women, who often have borne many of the burdens brought on by the pandemic. But employers can be part of the solution—and they must if they are to avoid losing valuable employees who find themselves too stressed to continue.

Labor force losses

An April survey by staffing firm Robert Half shows that about one in three professionals who were working from home because of the pandemic would look for a new job if required to go back to the office full-time.

Earlier in the pandemic, in November 2020, the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) reported that nearly 2.2 million women had left the labor force since February 2020 just before the brunt of the pandemic struck. The report also noted that 6.5% of women at least 20 years old were unemployed in October 2020. That's an unemployment rate more than twice as high as the prepandemic February 2020 number, when the rate was 3.1%.

The 2020 edition of Women in the Workplace, a report from McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.org, found that almost half of employees reported the pandemic has been a source of consistent stress and the pressure is even worse for working mothers.