The Economist - USA (2022-03-12)

The Economist March 12th 2022 Business 55

This,  though,  leaves workers feeling
drained  as  a  result of virtual overload.
Video  calls  leave  peoplefeelingtiredand
uneasy. That, in turn,makesthemlikelier
to  avoid  social  interaction,withoutquite
knowing  why,  accordingtoresearchersat
Stanford  University.(Possiblereasonsin­
clude excessive eye contact,whichhuman
brains  associate  with either conflict or
mating; staring at yourself,whichcanlead
to feelings of insecurity;orthedifficultyof
interpreting  non­verbalcuesonscreen.)
Electronic communicationlimitsphysical
movement,  which  impairscognitiveper­
formance. And constantchatnotifications
are a distraction.
Providers of virtualworkspacesbelieve
that these shortcomingscanbefixedwith
better  technology. Microsoft’s Outlook
platform  now  allowsemployerstotailor
their employees’ schedulingsettingsbyin­
serting breaks betweenvideocallsand,the
tech giant claims, helpsbossesspotunder­
lings  at  risk  of  burnout.Itevenoffersa
“virtual  commute”  forthosehybridwork­
ers  who  struggle  to separate work and
home  life.  Users  areremindedtowrapup
their  tasks,  prepareforthenextday,log
their  emotions  andunwind with Head­
space,  a  meditationapp.Tomakeonline
communication  moreseamlessandless
exhausting,  Zoom  haslaunchedadigital
whiteboard,  real­timeautomatedtransla­
tions and desk­phonesoftware.
Not all employersareconvinced.Some
cannot  reinstate  pre­covidworking pat­
terns fast enough. WallStreetistheprime
example. Blackstone,a private­equityfirm,
has  asked  key  staff  toreturntotheoffice
full­time. Jamie Dimon,chiefexecutiveof
JPMorgan  Chase,  hasarguedthatremote
working kills creativity,hurtsnewemploy­
ees  and  slows  down decision­making.
Fears  that  forcing  employeesbacktothe
office  will  drive  themawaymaybeover­
blown, bankers say. MrGormanhasreport­
ed  that  Morgan  Stanley received about
500,000  job  applicationslastyeardespite
its strict return­to­workpolicy.
Other  companiesaredealingwiththe
pitfalls  of  hybridisation by going even
more  remote.  Dropbox, a cloud­storage
firm, is adopting a “virtualfirst”approach
to avoid the problemofremoteworkersbe­
coming  second­class citizens(though it
maintains  collaborative physical spaces
where workers can meetinperson).Other
technology companies,fromRobinhoodto
Shopify and Spotify,havegonelargelyvir­
tual for similar reasons.
Hybrid  work’s  flawsnotwithstanding,
most  companies  willfallsomewherebe­
tween those two extremes,hopingtostrike
a  balance  between  theconvenienceofre­
mote work and the camaraderieoftheof­
fice. Some may evensucceed.Butintrying
to win over both sidesofthedebate,many
risk satisfying neither.n

Womenintheworkplace

No-ceilingfans

W

omeninbusinesshavebrokenthree

recordsoflate.Thenumberoffemale

bossesatthehelmofFortune 500 compa­

niesinAmericaisatanall­timehighof41.

In 2021 cvsHealth,thecountry’sfourth­

biggestfirmbyrevenue,becamethelarg­

esttoberunbya woman,KarenLynch(pic­

tured).And forthefirsttime,two giant

businesses—WalgreensBootsAlliance,an­

otherchemist,andtiaa, afinancial­ser­

vicesfirm—arerunbyblackwomen.

InAmerica andotherwell­off places

businesswomen are making strides, ac­

cordingtoTheEconomist’s glass­ceilingin­

dex,anannualsnapshotoffemaleempo­

werment.Theirshareofboardseatsisris­

inginmostplaces(thoughithasdipped

since 2019 inprogressiveSweden).Female

boardroomrepresentationsurged inthe

NetherlandsandGermanyaftertheyintro­

ducedmandatoryquotas.Butlawsaren’t

everything.TheBritishgovernment’svo­

luntarytargetshavealsoboostedtheshare

ofwomenontheboardsofftse 100 com­

panies,from12.5%a decadeagotonearly

40%.Investorswho careaboutenviron­

mental,socialandgovernancefactorsare

increasinglypressingfirmstotreatmale

andfemaleemployeesequally.

Still,businesswomenhavea longway

togobeforetheycatchupwiththeirmale

counterparts, especially in the upper

reaches ofcorporate hierarchies, andin

somerespectstrailtheirfemalecolleagues

in politics (see chart).Men still occupy

morethantwointhreeboardroomseatsin

America.InSouthKorea,theyhogmore

thannineinten.Womencontinuetoearn

less than their male colleagues (never

mindthatgirlsoutperformboysatschool

across the oecd, a club ofmostly rich

countries).InAmericaoutcomesareworse

stillforwomenofcolour, whomakeless

than white women and are even more

underrepresentedinseniorroles.

Moretroublingstill,toomanywomen

aredroppingoffthecorporateladderalto­

gether.Althoughremoteworkmadeit eas­

ierforsomewomentocombineworkwith

familychores(stillperformedmostlyby

mothers and wives), the pandemic has

pushed a disproportionate number of

them out of the workforce. Women’s

labour­forceparticipationinoecdcoun­

tries declinedfrom65% beforecovid­19

firsthitto63.8%a yearlater.Stymyingfe­

maleadvancementmaybeyetanotherin­

sidiousconsequenceofthevirus. n

Morewomenclimbupthecorporate

ladder.Butmoredropoffit,too

The glass-ceiling index

Share of women, selected countries, %

Sources:EuropeanInstituteforGenderEquality;Eurostat;MSCIESGResearch;

GMAC;ILO;Inter-ParliamentaryUnion;OECD;nationalsources;TheEconomist

50403020100

Oncompanyboards

201 2020 202

The glass-ceiling index

2021, 100=best

SouthKorea

Japan

UnitedStates

Canada

Finland

Britain

Sweden

Norway

NewZealand

Iceland

50403020100

In parliament

79.7

77.7

68.6

84.0

77.8

61.5

57.4

67.1

33.4

6.1

Ceiling-shatterer-in-chief

Explore the full glass-ceiling index

at economist.com /glassceiling