Historical snapshot: originally published January 2021, at the peak of pandemic-era workforce disruption. Preserved as a reference point for how the women-in-workforce conversation looked at that specific moment. For the 2026 landscape, see The Diversity Gap in 2026.
The sixth annual Women in the Workplace study by McKinsey and LeanIn.org landed with more weight than usual in late 2020 — heightened attention on diversity and equality collided with a pandemic that was disproportionately affecting women in the workforce. The single most alarming finding: more than 25% of women polled said they were considering decelerating their careers or stepping out of the workforce entirely. Prior years had shown men and women leaving work at similar rates. The 2020 estimate: up to 2 million women potentially exiting.
The research identified the pandemic as the proximate cause — with additional emphasis on women of color, who were affected by the compound weight of pandemic disruption and ongoing racial violence documented across that year. The report framed the shift as an emergency for companies at risk of losing women in leadership and the progress those women represented — while also pointing at concrete opportunities for companies willing to act.
Addressing The Cause
Companies had ramped up technology infrastructure, communications tools, and employee relations programs to support workers through the pandemic. Most had not recognized or addressed the underlying causes of stress and burnout that were pushing women toward the exit. The gap wasn't at the mental-health-benefits layer. It was at the workload-and-expectations layer.
The study found that fewer than a third of employers had modified performance review criteria to reflect the pandemic-era challenges of remote work, caregiving demands, and disrupted routines. Of the employers that did adjust, only about half informed employees of the change. Workers who were caregivers or parents of young children faced impossible math: pre-pandemic performance expectations against post-pandemic operating conditions. Many attempted to hit both and burned out in the process.
Financial Anxiety
About half of surveyed employers set up support programs — increased paid leave the most common. Another third added rewards for remote work. Helpful — but companies operating under financial strain generally couldn't match. The result: an uneven support landscape where the workers who most needed accommodations were often at the employers least able to provide them.
The Maternal Load
Women with children were among the most seriously affected. Mothers in dual-career couples reported spending five or more hours per day on household chores. The load was heavier still on single mothers. The workforce-attrition risk concentrated on the women who were carrying the most outside of work — which happened to include many women whose leadership trajectories had been building for years.
The Business Case McKinsey Made
Earlier McKinsey research had established that company financial performance and profits run nearly 50% higher when women are well-represented at senior levels. Women in leadership also bring perspectives that shape better decisions and champion the initiatives that keep other women in the pipeline. The pandemic risk wasn't just to individual careers — it was to the leadership infrastructure that had taken decades to build.
The Call The Study Made
Companies concerned about equality and diversity were urged to institute supplemental programs and policies to reduce employee stress — particularly for women. Revising performance expectations to reflect pandemic conditions, and communicating those revisions clearly, would help. Fast action would matter more than perfect action.
What Came Next
The workforce dynamics documented in this study set the terms for the following years of corporate diversity work — the 2020–2021 build-out, the 2023–2024 recalibration, and the current 2026 landscape between legal constraint and shareholder activism. The framework EPR uses to analyze that arc is laid out in The Diversity Gap in 2026.
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
