Women are being left out of post-pandemic labor force, data shows

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida economic leaders glowingly praised the September jobs report after it was released Friday morning, after it showed the Sunshine state growing three times faster than the nation as a whole.

The state gained 84,500 jobs, including 23,000 in Central Florida. Locally, the unemployment rate dropped half a percent.

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“We’re happy to be able to continue the momentum,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a video message.

What wasn’t mentioned in the report was the demographics of the workforce hired for the new jobs. If Florida follows national trends, the information would likely show most jobs went to men.

During the month of September, men gained 194,000 jobs across the United States, while women lost 26,000 jobs, data from the National Women’s Law Center, a professional women’s advocacy group, reported.

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The month continued a nearly two-year trend that has seen women fall off the labor force. In February 2020, right before the pandemic, 59.2% of women participated in the labor force. As of September 2021, that had fallen to 57.1%. The organization reported it was the lowest participation rate since October 1988.

“That’s lost income for themselves, for their children, for their families,” University of Florida economist Dr. Amanda Phalin said.

Eyewitness News reached out to Arlene Blake for more insight. Blake is the executive director of Women on the Rise Orlando, a nonprofit that focuses on women’s personal and professional development.

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Blake said women are required to wear more hats than men as the traditional primary caretaker in a family, which led to stress and burnout as the world turned upside down.

“It seems like a greater burden for us considering going back into the workforce,” she explained, adding that more than 90% of the women she’s recently surveyed have reported being burned out.

Because of this, women are seeking positions with flexible hours or work-from-home opportunities, she said. Often, corporate managers weren’t willing to offer those benefits – a result in part, she said, because corner offices are usually occupied by men.

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Blake said she heard about one company where the male managers worked from home during the pandemic, but required their typically female assistants to report to the office.

‘When the other opportunity came their way that allowed for them to be able to work from home or to make other revenue, they decided to take that opportunity,” she said.

Women have found new careers running their own businesses consulting, creating digital products or storefronts and running online boutiques, she said. Some have even found success investing. Many of these newfound careers pay significantly more than their old jobs, Blake said.

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However, she predicted women to slowly trickle back as they find positions that suit their new set of priorities.

“At that point, we’re going to see more people come back into the workforce and be excited about what they’re doing,” she said.

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