The Imminent Reality of Gender and Work Locations Follows You Home

Does it matter where you work as long as your work gets done?

Yes - it matters. The data says so.

Dame Stephanie Shirley's recent TED Talk was both an inspiration and a kick in the rear for me. She founded a software company in the 1960s to provide opportunities for women with dependents. She recognized the challenges and opportunities - and then she built a solution.

After many years in business her company was subsequently valued at $3 billion USD and she created a significant number of millionaires to boot. She continues to contribute through philanthropy and other endeavors.

Her idea to employ women with dependents wasn't really ahead of it's time considering that mothers have always existed. It was however an outstanding solution for leveraging an untapped talent pool. Working from home has been and will continue to be a workforce option. 

Studies show that over 20% of working Americans are remote today and the number is expected to climb to 63% approaching 2018. Formulating strategies for handling remote work assignments for individuals and for handling remote workers for corporations appears to be an imminent necessity. 

Here comes a key question:

Question #1: Can the gender equation be balanced more quickly through working-from-home (WFH) opportunities?

As with most questions on gender equality this one has a complex answer. While 90% of women feel that working from home provides for a number of distinct advantages such as increased flexibility and increased productivity, they may also be reluctant to take advantage of remote work opportunities due to fear of being "out of sight" or being thought of as less committed than their work-long-hours-all-times-of-the-day-and-night co-workers (I was one of those!).

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...women who do choose those more flexible schedules are often punished

... companies tend to reward people who stay late and work long continuous hours, over those who chose the flexible schedule - even if those two employees are equally productive

 Smithsonian Magazine (Harvard Study) [i]

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This unnecessary punitive challenge helps to explain why fewer women than men take advantage of remote work opportunities as captured by the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey. One study shows an even wider gap between WFH women (23%) and men (36%). Yet the profile of a remote worker is quite similar for men and women. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey

Going forward the choice of whether to work from home or in an office will become less of a choice as more opportunities are outsourced to at-home workers. Whether your work-life gets balanced will be up to you.

What does all of this mean for individual earning power? Well - that's a deeper question requiring in-depth examination of the types of opportunities that are being sent to the homestead. 

The work may be part-time or full-time, knowledge-based or activity-based, etc. Work requirements will help to determine pay differentials.

Of course there's the nagging reality that average pay is already unequal - at home or at the office. 

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The advantages of WFH are expansive and inclusive - for companies, for women who are mothers, for women who aren't mothers, for men, across generations, for families, and for the planet. There are few areas in life where almost everyone agrees that the benefits outweigh the costs. Working from home (or working remotely) is one of those areas. 

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...if Americans who hold work-at-home compatible jobs did so 50% of the time, U.S. companies could collectively increase their bottom lines by between $525 and $665 billion USD as a result of savings in real estate, absenteeism, turnover, and increased productivity

Global Workplace Analytics [ii]

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Anyone who works in an office knows that you often have to go home or get out of the office in order to get your work done. If you google "working from home" you'll instantly get ~900 million responses on the topic. Do the same for "studies on working from home" and you'll come up with ~800 million responses. Ask anyone if they'd like to work from home for at least part of the time and 90% of them will say yes.

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Source: Global Workplace Analytics

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In study after study, employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention increase when individuals are allowed to work from home at least part of the time. There are compelling stats across reams of studies covering everything from saving employers money to reducing the brain-drain from retiring boomers to expanding opportunities for the disabled to increasing individual empowerment and engagement.

Yet...

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75% of women in the 25-44 age range participate in the labor force compared to 90% of men

25% of women work part-time compared to 10% of men

Global Workplace Analytics [iii]

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The answer to the Question #1 appears to be "well-maybe?"

If more women enter the workforce approaching 90% or more of the female labor force OR if more women take on full-time remote work OR if women are simply not penalized for working remotely OR if more women get paid the same as men THEN WFH opportunities may help to move the dial towards the gender balanced position.


Work location challenges aren't just here at home. The impact is felt in other places around the world. According to Fiona Cannon, Head of Diversity and Inclusion for Lloyd's Banking Group in the UK achieving their 2020 objective of 40% women in senior leadership roles is doable yet is hampered by traditional working models.

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...one of the biggest obstacles is the traditional working model on which most organisations are based: Nine to five, five days a week. Start work at 16, retire at 60. Commute into offices in the town centre. Follow a linear career path. This model no longer reflects the lives we are living...

Forbes Magazine [iv]

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Are you overwhelmed with all of the data about where we work, when we work, how we work, and what will happen in the near future about work locations? I certainly am. I prefer Ricardo Semler's unconventional approach.


Think ahead - if you haven't already! Plug in some numbers with this gender-neutral HP Telework Tool to estimate how much you could save yourself and your employer. Dame Shirley had it right way back in the 1960s as one of the first companies willing to offer flexible work arrangements to an untapped female talent pool.

Question #2 - Can you use the info provided in this post to prepare yourself for WFH opportunities?

Answer - YES! 

Thanks for reading my article. Keep climbing and share your insights by commenting, liking, or sharing.

Harmony in the Workplace Through Effective Matchmaking

Recent news that eHarmony's Elevated Careers may produce an effective way to match individuals and companies as an extension of their relationship building capabilities is quite exciting. While I'm not a fan of on-line dating in general, I believe that it serves a purpose and provides avenues for screening potential partners that may not otherwise be available. As the CEO of eHarmony knows, matchmaking is tricky business but they have a solid track record to speak of.

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A Story of Organizational Incompatibility

Many years ago I realized that a company I worked for didn't match my core values. It was very early (within a few months) in our relationship when I made this discovery. I found myself questioning my decision to work there. My boss was an outstanding individual who knew how to handle experienced professionals so the typical perspective of having a terrible manager didn't hold water in my situation. The company and I just didn't have much in common except for the transactional relationship of converting services into cash and benefits for customers and for me. While I was "Type A" driven to resolve challenges and develop new customer solutions and relationships quickly, the culture was much slower and preferred lengthy deliberations. A fundamental mismatch was very clear.

During my investigation into the mismatch, a book published by Dr. William Bridges The Character of Organizations was recommended as a way for me to understand more about the organizational culture and how I could fit into it. Bridges brought forth the idea that organizations have a character profile much like people. In order to create successful matches, there must be compatibility or an awareness of compatibility limitations. He leveraged Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as a foundation to build what he called the Organizational Character Index (OCI). OCI could be used by individuals and organizations to help define and build stronger teams with longevity as a natural result.

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Once I read the book and amid much soul searching, I knew what I had to do. I had to learn the "People" profession. From there I would create an on-line tool that would help to reduce the negative impacts of mismatches between individuals and companies. If I was having such challenges as a top performer, then others must surely be even more severely impacted. I investigated the time, money, and effort wasted by companies and individuals and I learned how typical matches were made by spending time in the trenches.

Thus began my journey to the present.

It's been many years since these realizations took hold. My passion burns brighter than ever before because workforce challenges are beyond severe. As the workforce continues to be impacted by accelerations in technology innovations, globalization, insane competition, demographic inequalities, and new generations coming on-line, better matches with better mixes are more important than ever. My goal is to help create harmony in the workplace through effective matchmaking. It all begins by asking the right questions enabled by the right tools and insights.

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Research shows that:

• >70% of PRODUCTIVE life span is spent WORKING
• The rest of the time is spent sleeping, watching TV, eating, drinking, personal care, and on other unclassified items (BLS - American Time Use Survey)

• >70% of U.S. Workers are not fully engaged in their WORK and are not reaching their full potential (Gallup State of the American Workplace)

• >70% of U.S. Workers spend LESS THAN 10 YEARS with their employers
• Average tenure is now under 5 years (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

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Sources: Centers for Disease Control (2012); US BLS American Time Use Survey (2013); Gallup (2013)

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The implications of effective matchmaking in the workplace impacts both top and bottom lines of companies and individuals. Hard questions and answers should be resolved up front before too much time or money have been spent on either side. Traditional mechanisms are not effective. However, tools that can bring together the internal (hidden) profiles of companies with the personalities of potential candidates is a natural progression of the available insights that have been gathered over the years. Just as published information about individuals doesn't go far enough to make effective decisions, neither does published information about companies. Additional rigor must be applied. Automation of this process will be a major breakthrough that will benefit everyone. The trick is to obtain accurate "inside" information about organizations which many are reluctant to give up for valid competitive reasons. eHarmony's Elevated Careers seems to be on the right track.

Companies like LinkedIn along with Glassdoor, Monster, and CareerBuilder - to name a few - all have a similar opportunity to crack the code when it comes to determining the best possible matches between individuals and companies. Big Data and algorithms are plentiful.

The question is who will get there first... 
 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lillian Gregory is a passionate advocate for Women in Leadership and Women in Technology. Connect on LinkedIn. Follow on Facebook or Twitter.





A Day Long and Less Than a Dollar Short

Yes - it's true. A dollar is a dollar!

The issues around pay equity are complex for sure, but it's clear that our economy suffers greatly as a result of the pay gap between women and men. Most of us don't grow up thinking that we want women to earn less than men for equal work - or that we want the actual work performed by women to be devalued in aggregate tracking. Many of us probably don't even think about it perhaps assuming that it's just so wrong that it doesn't make sense to consider it. Yet it's happening. Women end up at less than a dollar short for long days at work - and at home.

On average women spend ~1800 hours per year working a paid job where the average pay is less than men's. Once the work day is over, women also carry the load for their families at home. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women devote more than 110 million hours a year to unpaid interactive child care - more than double the amount of time spent by men in these same areas. The effort at home doesn't yet factor into economic evaluations, but shouldn't it?

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If women received pay equal to their male counterparts, the U.S. economy would produce $447.6 billion in additional income

The Shriver Report (2014)

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Beyond the Working Years

The economic impact of unequal pay cascades throughout a woman's lifecycle and causes challenges well beyond the working years. Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), women live long and prosper with an average age of 81.1 years compared to men's 76.3 years yet the adverse impact of pay inequality carried forward is doubled for women.

The Social Security Administration shows more optimistic longevity data noting that:

• Women who reach 65 today can expect to live until 86 on average
• Men who reach 65 today can expect to live until 84 on average
• For 65-year-olds today - ~25% of will live past age 90; ~10% will live past age 95

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The median income for women over 65 was approximately 25 percent lower than men’s over the last decade, with a poverty rate for women at 2X higher than men's in 2010

United States Government Accountability Office (2012)

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Avoid Poverty Now - and Later

What if pay equity wasn't an issue? Data from the Institute for Women's Policy Research shows a dramatic decrease in poverty if pay was equalized based on:

• same number of hours worked
• same age
• same educational attainment
• same urban/rural status
• same region of the country

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The poverty rate would decrease by 50% if women earned the same as men!

The Institute for Women's Policy Research (2014)



 

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Moving Forward

With laws in place to ensure equal pay for equal work and increasing awareness of the challenges caused by the status quo, barriers to pay equity will begin to fall away as more people take an active role in changing the future. To move forward we must continue to:

• Increase Awareness - seek first to understand and then to change what doesn't work. Don't assume that everyone is aware of the details around pay equity. Leverage your knowledge and applicable laws as necessary.
• Equal Pay Act of 1963
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
• The Paycheck Fairness Act (Pending)

• Speak Up - secrecy leads to the persistence of stubborn pay gaps due to lack of visibility. Dig in and understand fair market rates by role, gender, education, location, experience, skills, effort, and responsibility (i.e. know what's fair based on your value proposition?)

• Challenge Perceptions - a dollar is a dollar and it should be viewed as such. Once you know your market value, prepare to negotiate for top dollar and be creative when promoting your capabilities.

• Hold Employers Accountable - don't be afraid to challenge employers when discrepancies are found. That's what the laws are for! Concerns have been expressed that additional legislation in this area will tie up the courts with frivolous law suits. Rubbish! If pay is going wrong, then use all available avenues to help make it right!

• Redefine the Value of Work - All of It! - people are the core infrastructure of the economy thus work 'with' people (i.e. families) should be included in economic evaluations.

Our future is in our hands - so let's take care of us!

A Dollar Is A Dollar - Or Is It?

Pay equity certainly has people talking these days which is a good thing, right? We have an opportunity to understand, reevaluate, and equalize something as simple as the definition of a dollar between men and women. After all a dollar is a dollar - or is it?

The composite figure cited by the White House as $0.77 earned by women versus $1.00 earned by men brings up many questions - and much angst. Sure there are reasons for pay differences, but the bottom line is there are gaps where there shouldn't be. We might get a headache from looking at the details, but that's where the devil is so let's go there - to the details.

 

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Tracking and Reporting Pay Equity

Highlights of Women's Earnings - a report published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics - tracks the history of pay equity from 1979 forward. The latest report was published in 2012. Data captured in the report (the head-splitting kind) includes major categories such as age, race, ethnicity, education, occupation, parental status, location, and hours worked - plus data tables.

 

Does each of these factors make a difference in pay equity? If so, how much of a difference does each one make? Do these factors explain why a dollar doesn't equal a dollar for women and men - when all factors are equal? Answers in order are: yes - it depends - NO!

 

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Women's Earnings as a Percentage of Men's (1979 - 2012) shows the gap closing, but there's still a ways to go. Notice the dip approaching 2012. Definitely moving in the wrong direction.

 

 

 

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Median Usual Weekly Earnings (2012) shows a more granular view of gaps - most significant among White and Asian populations, but still not winning any stars for other segments of the population.

 

 

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Percent Change in Constant Dollar Weekly Earnings (1979 - 2012) shows that education makes a significant difference in pay. However, the spread for Bachelor's Degree or Higher is 11.1% favoring men.

 

 

 

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Distribution of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers (2012) shows the types of occupations held by women and men. Women carry a majority the work load in all areas (based on population) except Sales, Natural Resources, Construction, Maintenance and Production, Transportation, Material Moving. This view makes pay equity even more critical.

 

 

 

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Equal Pay for Equal Work

 

The Equal Pay Act (EPA) was signed on June 10, 1963, but we seem to be stuck 50 years later. The law permits differences in pay for "seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production, or a factor other than sex." Considerations for equal pay for equal work include skill, effort, responsibility, working conditions, and establishment.

 

The EPA requirements are reasonable and insightful so why is it so difficult for companies in aggregate to comply?

 

To be continued...



A Good Job Versus A Great Life - Is This A Fair Comparison?

A good job versus a great life is a never-ending discussion. Maybe it's not a fair comparison, but it's important to continue to focus on the way we lead our lives as technology, work,  economics, society, world events, and our own expectations continue to encroach on our well-being. We spend the majority of our productive time working and if we're not creating our version of a great life in the process then what are we doing?

Typical 24-Hour Day for Americans

According to the American Time Use Survey (June 2013), a typical day for a working person consists of 8.45 hours of sleep, 0.76 hours for personal care, 1.24 hours to eat and drink, 7.95 hours to work, 3.26 hours to watch TV, and 1.76 unclassified hours (commuting, random activities, etc).  For a total of: 8.45 + 0.76 + 1.24 + 1 + 7.95 + 3.26 + 1.76 = 23.42 hours. We repeat the pattern for 5 days per week totaling approximately 71% of the calendar week. If we’ve managed our time well during the week, then Saturday and Sunday are our leisure days (29%). Oh wait - we work on weekends too!

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Glassdoor's Employment Confidence Survey which focuses heavily on 'employee vacation realities' enlightened us further by focusing on our use of vacation time.  Most of us don't even pause long enough to take the vacation time which our good jobs provide. We often just power through. Even if we do take physical vacation time away from the office, we take our work along with us. Again I say - what are we doing?

• On average, employees took 51% of their eligible time off in the past 12 months
• Of employees who have ever taken vacation/paid time off, three in five (61%) report doing some work while on vacation
• Of employees who took vacation in the past 12 months, one in 10 (11%) report they used vacation/paid time off to interview for another job

Definitions of Good Job and Great Life

Driving to and fro daily is my introspection time. For years I contemplated the dilemma of having a good job versus having a great life. I finally concluded that this is a false comparison and it's up to me to create a great life powered by a great income. If you're comfortable with your arrangement, then proceed business as usual. If not, then redefining what a good job versus a great life means to you may be your next step. My definitions have changed slightly over the years, but the basics remain the same.


--> What is a Good Job?

The baseline of a good job typically includes an effective salary and benefits, company stability, interesting work, advancement potential, friendly co-workers, and solid leadership. No mention of working through weekends and vacation!


--> What is a Great Life?

A definition of a great life is a bit tougher to align, but there are some characteristics that virtually everyone can agree on - good health, perpetual income, happy family, great friends, purposeful actions, freedom, and fun times. Still nothing about working through weekends and vacation!

If one works all the time including weekends and vacation, then there might not be much room for health, family, friends, and fun - unless work is structured so that it includes all of these elements. If you're on a path where there is little overlap between a good job and a great life, then perhaps it's time to reevaluate your trajectory.

I get it - we all need an income to take care of ourselves. Our life phases and circumstances often dictate our choices. However, at each step along the way it's up to us to determine how and whether we create a great life or simply settle for a good one.

To kick life up a level from good to great at work and away from work, here's a hint - change and risk are involved.

If You Have a Weak Stomach or Fear of Future, Then Don't Read This!

WARNING! If you have a weak stomach or a fear of the future, then don't read this! However, if you want to explore where our collective intelligence has taken us, then grab a beverage or your favorite snack and indulge.

I'm deeply passionate about the integration of technology and humanity. I'm also deeply concerned about the impact of technology on jobs and livelihoods near term and beyond. Everyday I make an effort to research and share at least one tidbit of compelling information with my readers in these areas.  Inevitably I find something new - new to me, newly created, new perspectives on something old - or something just plain crazy. That's what the documentary below is to me - new, compelling, crazy, and wow (aka scary)!

We're pushing boundaries at unprecedented rates and our awareness hasn't yet caught up to what we're collectively capable of. It's fascinating and at times simply unbelievable. I stumbled on this documentary while exploring STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs across the U.S. The focus of my research is to determine effective ways to break down barriers in STEM for women and girls - and to find out how I can help.

The U.S. is not ready and the alternatives are deeply troubling.

• 69% of high school graduates are not prepared for college-level science
• 54% of high school graduates are not prepared for college-level math
• 4% of bachelor's degrees awarded in the U.S. are in engineering, China 31%
• 40% of men with STEM degrees practice in their field compared to 26% of women 
• 92% of all U.S. STEM jobs will require post-secondary education by 2018
• 23% of STEM workers are women though women are 48% of the workforce
• 4% of workers in STEM careers create jobs for the 96% of workers in other fields
• 30% of middle school science teachers did not major in science and are not certified to teach it

Don't look away! If you don't like the view, explore what you can do as a professional in your field to help change it. After all - it's our collective futures on the line.

Technology's Devastating Impact on Women's Jobs

March 8th, tomorrow, is International Women's Day - a day for celebration of women's accomplishments.  The official UN theme for this year is "Equality for Women is Progress for All".

Before diving into the details about the pending challenges regarding women's jobs, take a look at the International Women's Day Doodle video for this year. Celebrate and acknowledge outstanding women. Ah hem - that would be ALL women.

Technology's Devastating Impact on Women's Jobs

 
Topics like are never pleasant to examine, but looking away from them won't change reality. Awareness is the first step towards change, right? Since the changes and challenges are already in progress, it's time to determine next steps.

As I reviewed the recent Oxford study which concludes that 47 percent of US jobs may become computerized in 10 or 20 years, I wondered about impacted demographics like as gender, age, and race - with a sharp focus on women. A close look at data tracked by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2010 (the same year used in the study) shows how devastating the reality may be for women if a fundamental shift in skills doesn't occur.

According to our estimate, 47 percent of the total US employment is in the high risk category, meaning that associated occupations are potentially automatable some unspecified number of years, perhaps a decade or two.

The Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerization?

 C. Frey, M. Osborne; Oxford University (September 2013

Why my focus on women in particular? Well - because women's productivity is the backbone of the global workforce - clocking 66% of all working hours on the planet. Simply put women's productivity drives global economies.

Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, and produce 50 percent of the food, yet earn only 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property. Whether the issue is improving education in the developing world, or fighting global climate change, or addressing nearly any other challenge we face, empowering women is a critical part of the equation.

Former President Bill Clinton 

Clinton Global Initiative (September 2009)

...The challenges to gender equality just got a whole lot more complicated.


Disruptive Technologies Are Disrupting Women's Jobs

Disruptive technologies will impact the most susceptible occupations in services, sales, administration, construction, and transportation. Most of these jobs are currently performed by women.

• Services jobs are being replaced by personal and household robots at a pace of 15% to 20% per year.
• Sales and related administration jobs are rapidly succumbing to automation and software advancements.
• Industrial robots may automate 15% to 25% of tasks associated with jobs in construction, maintenance, and manufacturing by 2025.

And on the story goes...


A straight-across look at the percentages by gender and job category show significant challenges for women who hold a majority of roles in sales, office, and services occupations. As if the flags weren't red enough in general, they are particularly red for women.

 

SALES-OFC - Sales and office occupations

SVCS - Services occupations

MGMT-PROF - Management, Professional, Related occupations

PROD-TX-MAT - Production, Transportation, Material Moving occupations

NR-CONST-MNT - Natural Resources, Construction, and Maintenance occupations

Now what? It's time to retool for the knowledge economy.