Equality Grows Revenue.
What Are You Waiting For?
What Are You Waiting For?
Only a quarter of manufacturing leaders are women. While disheartening, this aligns with assessments that women hold only 25% of C-suite roles across eight sectors, including industrial. In early 2020, prior to the pandemic, women accounted for 50.04% of U.S. jobs, so why is their representation in leadership halved?
Cue forward to March 2020 and beyond: The COVID-19 pandemic created a new set of challenges. Last month, Vice President Kamala Harris wrote that “The Exodus of Women from the Workforce is a National Emergency.” Approximately 2.5 million women have either lost their jobs or had to take themselves out of the workforce. The jobs lost are disproportionately accounted for by minorities and lower-wage workers, and this will have a long-term effect on the available pool for those rising in the ranks to eventual leadership positions.
As March 8 celebrates International Women’s Day, it appears we have much to do. How do we do better for women at all levels of manufacturing? And grow representation at the top?
Women’s participation in manufacturing remains relatively unchanged from the 1970s. Let’s dive a little deeper into how manufacturers could increase women’s participation.
Can we help future-proof workforce equality in manufacturing? As we face a national emergency of women leaving the workforce, we must create a sector with a new identity that appeals to women and other minorities. And it benefits not only society but also companies’ bottom lines. A 2018 study found that “companies that have more diverse management teams have 19% higher revenue due to innovation.” The S&P Global notes that “increased female labor participation could accelerate U.S. GDP growth, adding a staggering $5.87 trillion to the global stock market in 10 years.” Take that to your shareholders.