CLOSING THE GAP

This week, CNBC Make It work reporter Morgan Smith dives into Lean In and McKinsey & Co.'s annual "Women in the Workplace" report. You can follow her on Twitter @thewordsmithm. 

Millions of Americans (including myself) are still working from their home offices or kitchen tables amid the coronavirus pandemic, a phenomenon that has redefined where and how we work. The crisis has also increased our stress levels as we juggle new variants of the virus and ever-changing health guidelines. Women, however, have been hit particularly hard by pandemic-induced burnout. According to new data from Lean In and McKinsey & Co., the gap between men and women who feel overwhelmed has nearly doubled in the past year: 42% of women and 35% of men say they are burned out, compared with 32% of women and 28% of men in 2020. 

This gap can largely be attributed to the ongoing child-care crisis parents face and women taking on more work in the office around employee well-being, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, Rachel Thomas, co-founder and CEO of Leanin.org, tells CNBC Make It. In their annual “Women in the Workplace” report, Lean In and McKinsey & Co. found that women leaders are more likely than men at the same level to champion DEI efforts outside of their normal job responsibilities: 1 in 5 women senior leaders spend a substantial amount of time on DEI work that is not central to their job, compared with fewer than 1 in 10 men senior leaders. 

But DEI efforts are at risk of becoming “the new office housework,” the report notes. While companies say they support DEI initiatives, most do not recognize this work in performance reviews and it usually isn’t compensated. “It’s mission critical to the organization, yet if it goes unrewarded and unrecognized, what happens?” Thomas says. “Not only are women not getting credit, and it’s hindering their advancement in the workplace, but if you signal this work isn’t important, it’s less likely to get done.”

This pattern has broader implications for companies beyond feeding burnout among working women, Jess Huang, a partner at McKinsey and one of the report’s authors, tells CNBC Make It. “Companies are really at risk of losing the leadership that’s helped them weather the storm of the last few years,” she says. “Many companies have performed well during the pandemic, and that’s thanks to the women that have stepped up to do more to ensure their colleagues are working effectively and investing in DEI efforts.” 

The lack of support from colleagues and company leadership is driving more women to consider downshifting their career or leaving the workforce altogether. According to the report, 1 in 3 women have considered changing or leaving their jobs in the past year. To combat this troubling trend, Thomas encourages companies to dig into the “hard, sustained work of changing their cultures” by redesigning policies and employee training to focus more on empathy and equity in the workplace.  

“We need to take bolder steps to address burnout among women,” Thomas says. “We’ve made a lot of great strides, but companies need to realize that burnout is on the rise, and women are barely holding on.”

Are you feeling more burned out at work this year, compared with last year? If so, is your company taking any steps to improve employee well-being? Share your thoughts with us at askmakeit@cnbc.com. 

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