Livingston Today

Women are dropping out of the workforce at a faster rate than men during the COVID-19 pandemic, the founder and CEO of a Michigan-based women’s leadership development group told WJR's "The Paul W. Smith Show."

“Really, this is the nation’s first female recession,” Terry Barclay of Inforum Michigan told the show. “The September jobs report from the Labor Department... confirmed what the economists suspected that the majority, 860,000-plus, of the 1.1 million people over 20 who left the workforce in August and September were women. It’s a really stunning number.”

A survey of women by "McKinsey and Lean In" found that one in four were contemplating either resigning or downshifting their careers, Barclay said.

Terry Barclay, CEO | Inforum Michigan

“This is very troubling to companies who are very concerned about having a really strong talent pipeline,” Barclay told Beckmann. “I know that your listeners out there with families who have lived through the stress of trying to educate kids from home and juggle jobs, family, health and all of those concerns know how stressful this has been for everyone.”

At a recent virtual gather by Inforum, speakers offered advice on managing with the stress of the pandemic.

One speaker talked about using “positive mental framing,” including ideas like keeping a "gratitude journal."

“Talk with your kids, talk as a family, about what are the things you are grateful for that day,” Barclay said on the radio program. “And connecting with other people, making the extra effort to do that. Carving out the time and make the commitment to keep in touch with friends and family members, even when it’s tough, during the pandemic.”

Some employers are taking some creative steps to help families get through the current predicament, said Barclay.

“I know a couple, for example, who put in some unconventional leaves of absence so that... the husband or the wife, or any member of the family, could take the time to deal with a particular stressor that came up without fear of losing their job,” she told Beckmann. “So that the employer can retain that talent. Because they put a lot of time, effort and money into recruiting and developing the key members of their team that they need to be successful in their businesses.”