The “Lean Out” generation – Photo credit: http://blog.timesunion.com
Happy Thursday!
I remember witnessing at some point in my career two women tendering their notices only a couple of months apart from each other. The reason cited was the same, to spend more time with their respective children. It struck me at the time since I was myself a young mother, and suffice it to say, I did not exactly have such a choice. As I looked around, I was struck even more to notice that beyond the two competent young women in my department, women tend to “lean out” of the workforce more and more.
This “hidden brain drain” as dubbed by economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett of the Center for Talent Innovation, who argues this “leaning out” phenomenon negatively impacts both businesses and families, is also leaving the rest of us professional women at a loss for words, and at a loss for motivation. According to the Washington Post, nearly one in four women took some voluntary time out of work, while for mothers, the percentage goes up to 43%. Whether women opt out for personal or family reasons, or are effectively being pushed out by the lack of flexibility in today’s demanding and still male-dominated workforce, the fact is women are leaving work in record numbers. And for the rest of us still plugging along, by choice or necessity, it is starting to feel lonely as we start questioning even our own motives for working…
So what do we do in response to this mass exodus of women out of the workforce? Do we “lean in” even more, just stay out of need, or follow suit? Despite all the talks around women’s empowerment at work, breaking the glass ceiling with a pink hammer, and raising our careers, can we keep turning a blind eye to this silent female brain drain?
As for me, every time I receive yet another notice from a woman exiting the workforce, yet another good-bye email, as much as I’m happy for these women hopefully making their choices on their own terms, I can’t keep but start silently, guiltily questioning mine…
The Corporate Sis.
