ARTICLE BY LIBBY O’REGAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY M.KAT
WOMEN INSPIRED BY MORE T
he workplace today is unlike anything we have ever seen. Millions of people lost their jobs or “voluntarily” exited the workforce because of childcare constraints. Women were hit particularly hard with job loss. While the unemployment numbers were roughly equal between men and women before the pandemic, at its peak, the unemployment rate for women was nearly two percentage points higher than that of men. Today, unemployment for women remains 1.9% higher and above pre-pandemic level. In September 2020, when schools resumed (many with remote learning), an astonishing 80% of the 1.1 million people who exited the workplace were women.* As much as the workplace has changed and the numbers look disappointing for women in particular, what we have found on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton are women who are not only juggling fulltime careers but who have chosen to add more work to their plate and start a side business. And that is in addition to their family and all that life is throwing at them! These women give us hope. Inspired by more, these women help tell a brighter story about where women are in the workplace and how their ambition can lead the way as we get back to pre-pandemic levels of employment equality.
* Source: https://fortune.com/2021/02/13/covid-19-women-workforce-unemploymentgender-gap-recovery/ & US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
