在美國爆發新冠疫情危機之前,許多女性已經在“兩班倒”:她們既要工作,又要承擔起照看子女和做家務的主要責任。疫情期間,孩子在家上學,還要照顧家里的病患或老年人,形成了“多班倒”的局面。這把女性推到了崩潰的邊緣。
LeanIn.org和Survey Monkey在四月份進行的調查顯示,四分之一女性表示她們正在經歷嚴重的焦慮,身體出現了心跳加快等癥狀。有相同遭遇的男性只有十分之一。超過一半女性目前存在睡眠問題。女性,尤其是黑人女性,比男性更有可能擔心未來幾個月家庭的基本生活支出難以維系。
有全職工作并且已經組建家庭的女性,有31%表示她們要做的事情讓她們疲于應付。只有13%有家庭的職場男性有相同的感受。我們的研究表明,出現這種差異的原因,不僅僅是因為男性能夠更輕松地應對同樣沉重的負擔。相反,感覺不堪重負的女性之所以比例更高,是因為她們在夜以繼日地工作,維持家庭運轉。
以一位有配偶和子女的全職女性在疫情期間的日程表為例。我們的調查數據顯示,她現在每周要花71個小時處理家務和照顧家人,包括新增加的應對疫情的責任。這已經相當于兩份全職工作的時間,而這時候她還沒有開始自己的全職工作。與此同時,男性每周的勞動時間比女性少20個小時。有色人種女性和單親媽媽的負擔更加沉重。
雇主必須幫助她們緩解這種壓力。我們知道公司在經濟衰退時期承受著巨大的財務壓力,但幫助團隊避免職業倦怠和染病應該成為公司的首要任務。只有這樣做,他們才能在危機中讓員工發揮最大的作用,并在危機過后留住員工。
只有40%的員工表示,疫情爆發之后公司采取了提高工作靈活性的措施,不足20%的員工表示公司調整了工作重點,或者減少了她們的工作任務。但這還遠遠不夠。公司的領導者和管理者應該盡量推遲工作任務的截止時間,重新審視疫情之前設定的目標,重新考慮績效評估的時間,把一些優先級較低的事項從待辦事項清單中刪除。
Facebook暫停了常規績效評估,而是按照假設所有員工在今年上半年績效均超出預期的情況發放獎金,并為需要照顧子女的員工提供了延長育兒假的福利,提供了新的請假方案。我們還允許公司各部門的管理人員根據具體情況重新調整任務的優先級別。并非所有公司都可以或者應該采取同樣的措施,但想方設法減輕員工的負擔能產生巨大的影響。
現在,管理人員應該發揮領導作用,為團隊提供必要的情感支持。不到三分之一的員工和不足四分之一的必要工作者表示,在疫情期間公司有人關心他們的健康狀況。如果員工有子女在家上課,或者擔心住院的父母,她們的管理者應該了解到這種情況,并相應調整工作計劃。任何公司,無論規模大小,都可以借鑒初創公司的做法,經常舉行“站立”會議(因為時間很短,所以不需要坐下開會),讓員工快速分享自己的工作內容、提出問題、及時調整工作重點和尋求幫助等。
當然,在疫情期間為員工提供支持不應該只是雇主的責任。我們需要國家解決方案,包括帶薪休假、提高最低工資和可以負擔的兒童看護等。在家里,男性應該站出來。在疫情危機期間,許多男性確實在家里承擔了更多責任,但如果他們從承擔20%的家務增加到30%,雖然聽起來很多,但依舊不足一半。伴侶之間平均分擔家務,能幫助女性在事業和健康不受影響的情況下,度過這次危機。
女性已經疲憊不堪,達到極限。度過此次危機,也意味著幫助女性度過難關。無論是雇主、管理者、政府官員還是配偶,所有人都應該行動起來,減輕女性的負擔。(財富中文網)
本文作者雪莉·桑德伯格現任Facebook首席運營官兼LeanIn.Org聯合創始人。瑞秋·托馬斯為LeanIn.Org聯合創始人兼CEO。
作者:Sheryl Sandberg,Rachel Thomas
譯者:Biz
在美國爆發新冠疫情危機之前,許多女性已經在“兩班倒”:她們既要工作,又要承擔起照看子女和做家務的主要責任。疫情期間,孩子在家上學,還要照顧家里的病患或老年人,形成了“多班倒”的局面。這把女性推到了崩潰的邊緣。
LeanIn.org和Survey Monkey在四月份進行的調查顯示,四分之一女性表示她們正在經歷嚴重的焦慮,身體出現了心跳加快等癥狀。有相同遭遇的男性只有十分之一。超過一半女性目前存在睡眠問題。女性,尤其是黑人女性,比男性更有可能擔心未來幾個月家庭的基本生活支出難以維系。
有全職工作并且已經組建家庭的女性,有31%表示她們要做的事情讓她們疲于應付。只有13%有家庭的職場男性有相同的感受。我們的研究表明,出現這種差異的原因,不僅僅是因為男性能夠更輕松地應對同樣沉重的負擔。相反,感覺不堪重負的女性之所以比例更高,是因為她們在夜以繼日地工作,維持家庭運轉。
以一位有配偶和子女的全職女性在疫情期間的日程表為例。我們的調查數據顯示,她現在每周要花71個小時處理家務和照顧家人,包括新增加的應對疫情的責任。這已經相當于兩份全職工作的時間,而這時候她還沒有開始自己的全職工作。與此同時,男性每周的勞動時間比女性少20個小時。有色人種女性和單親媽媽的負擔更加沉重。
雇主必須幫助她們緩解這種壓力。我們知道公司在經濟衰退時期承受著巨大的財務壓力,但幫助團隊避免職業倦怠和染病應該成為公司的首要任務。只有這樣做,他們才能在危機中讓員工發揮最大的作用,并在危機過后留住員工。
只有40%的員工表示,疫情爆發之后公司采取了提高工作靈活性的措施,不足20%的員工表示公司調整了工作重點,或者減少了她們的工作任務。但這還遠遠不夠。公司的領導者和管理者應該盡量推遲工作任務的截止時間,重新審視疫情之前設定的目標,重新考慮績效評估的時間,把一些優先級較低的事項從待辦事項清單中刪除。
Facebook暫停了常規績效評估,而是按照假設所有員工在今年上半年績效均超出預期的情況發放獎金,并為需要照顧子女的員工提供了延長育兒假的福利,提供了新的請假方案。我們還允許公司各部門的管理人員根據具體情況重新調整任務的優先級別。并非所有公司都可以或者應該采取同樣的措施,但想方設法減輕員工的負擔能產生巨大的影響。
現在,管理人員應該發揮領導作用,為團隊提供必要的情感支持。不到三分之一的員工和不足四分之一的必要工作者表示,在疫情期間公司有人關心他們的健康狀況。如果員工有子女在家上課,或者擔心住院的父母,她們的管理者應該了解到這種情況,并相應調整工作計劃。任何公司,無論規模大小,都可以借鑒初創公司的做法,經常舉行“站立”會議(因為時間很短,所以不需要坐下開會),讓員工快速分享自己的工作內容、提出問題、及時調整工作重點和尋求幫助等。
當然,在疫情期間為員工提供支持不應該只是雇主的責任。我們需要國家解決方案,包括帶薪休假、提高最低工資和可以負擔的兒童看護等。在家里,男性應該站出來。在疫情危機期間,許多男性確實在家里承擔了更多責任,但如果他們從承擔20%的家務增加到30%,雖然聽起來很多,但依舊不足一半。伴侶之間平均分擔家務,能幫助女性在事業和健康不受影響的情況下,度過這次危機。
女性已經疲憊不堪,達到極限。度過此次危機,也意味著幫助女性度過難關。無論是雇主、管理者、政府官員還是配偶,所有人都應該行動起來,減輕女性的負擔。(財富中文網)
本文作者雪莉·桑德伯格現任Facebook首席運營官兼LeanIn.Org聯合創始人。瑞秋·托馬斯為LeanIn.Org聯合創始人兼CEO。
作者:Sheryl Sandberg,Rachel Thomas
譯者:Biz
Before the coronavirus crisis hit in the U.S., many women already worked a “double shift,” doing their jobs, then returning to a home where they were responsible for the majority of childcare and domestic work. Now, homeschooling kids and caring for sick or elderly relatives during the pandemic is creating a "double double shift." It’s pushing women to the breaking point.
According to recent surveys by LeanIn.org and Survey Monkey conducted in April, one in four women say they are experiencing severe anxiety with physical symptoms like a racing heartbeat. One in 10 men say the same. More than half of all women are currently struggling with sleep issues. Women, especially black women, were more likely than men to worry that they wouldn’t be able to pay for essentials in the next few months.
And 31% of women with full-time jobs and families say they have more to do than they can possibly handle. Only 13% of working men with families say the same. Our research indicates that this disparity is not because men are simply shouldering equally heavy burdens with greater ease. Instead, women are disproportionately feeling overwhelmed because they are disproportionately the ones working day and night to keep households afloat.
Consider the coronavirus-era schedule of a typical woman who works full time and has a partner and kids. She’s now spending 71 hours every week on housework and caregiving, including the new responsibilities of the pandemic, according to our survey data. That’s nearly two full-time jobs—before she starts doing her actual full-time job. Meanwhile, men in the same situation are doing 20 fewer hours of labor every week. For women of color and single moms, the demands are even greater.
Employers must work to relieve this stress. We know companies are under tremendous financial pressure during this economic downturn, but helping their teams avoid burnout and illness needs to be a priority. That is how they’ll get the best out of their employees amid all this disruption and retain those workers when the crisis is over.
Only 40% of employees say their companies have taken steps to increase flexibility since the pandemic began, and fewer than 20% say their employer has rejiggered priorities or narrowed the scope of their work. That’s not enough. Leaders and managers should move any deadline that can be moved, take a second look at targets set before the pandemic, rethink the timing of performance reviews, and remove low-priority items from the to-do list.
At Facebook, we suspended our usual performance ratings—instead, all employees will receive bonuses as if they exceeded expectations for the first half of the year—and created an extended childcare benefit and new leave options for caregivers. We've also allowed managers across the company to reshuffle priorities on a case-by-case basis. Not every employer can or should follow these exact steps, but finding ways to lighten your employees’ loads can make a big difference.
This is the time for managers to become leaders by giving their teams much-needed emotional support. Fewer than a third of employees—and fewer than a quarter of essential workers—say someone from their company checks in on their well-being these days. If employees are homeschooling kids or worrying about a parent in the hospital, their managers should know that and adjust work plans accordingly. Companies of all sizes can take a cue from the start-up playbook and hold regular “stand up” meetings—named because they’re so short, you don’t sit down for them—to let people quickly share what they’re working on, flag problems, readjust priorities on the fly, and ask for help.
Of course, supporting workers through this pandemic can’t be the responsibility of employers alone. We need national solutions, including paid leave, a higher minimum wage, and affordable childcare. And on the home front, men need to step up. Many have taken on more responsibility at home during this crisis, but if you go from doing 20% to 30% of the housework, it's still less than half even if it feels like a lot. Evenly sharing the increased domestic burden—splitting the double double shift—will help ensure women emerge from this period with their jobs and health intact.
Women are maxing out and burning out. Getting through this crisis means helping women get through it too. All of us—employers, managers, elected officials, and spouses—need to help lighten their loads.
Sheryl Sandberg is COO of Facebook and co-founder of LeanIn.Org. Rachel Thomas is co-founder and CEO of LeanIn.Org.