Scared about the future': Female small-business owners face extra hurdles during pandemic shutdowns

 Written by: Amee Picchi 

Source https://tinyurl.com/y27btksn

Melissa Wirt owns Latched Mama, an online clothing retailer geared to nursing moms based in Midlothian, Va. She has five kids

LINDSAY MARTIN

When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, Lenore Estrada was in the middle of constructing a kitchen for her bakery, buoyed by demand from Google and Lyft, which served her desserts in their cafeterias.

When she learned her clients were shuttering their offices – and cutting their food orders – she made the painful decision to lay off most of her staff.

Estrada said she worked many all-nighters to keep her Three Babes Bakeshop afloat, even as she prepared to have her second child in October.

She’s juggling parenting a newborn and a 2-year-old and keeping her business alive.

“I sometimes get down, and I feel really scared about the future,” Estrada, 37, of San Francisco, told USA TODAY, noting that she worries about filing for bankruptcy. “I have had many a tearful day. I don’t have (any) choice but to press forward.”

The pandemic has been tough on women’s careers. Mothers are stretched thin between work and the strain of child care as the majority of large school districts reopened with remote instruction this fall.

Women who run small businesses face a unique set of stressors as the pandemic threatens the viability of their companies, as well as the nation’s economic growth, experts said.


Women hit harder by coronavirus

Women are more likely than men to own businesses in industries that have been hard-hit by the pandemic, such as restaurants and retail shops. Women and people of color are less likely to have the same access to capital as white men. A House committee report found the Paycheck Protection Program left behind many minority- and women-owned businesses because banks prioritized lending to customers.

Women-owned businesses have been a driving force in the economy’s growth. About 42% of businesses were owned by women in 2019, compared with about 4% in 1972, according to American Express’ State of Women-Owned Business report in 2019. In the past five years, total employment by women-owned businesses rose 8%, versus an increase of 1.8% for all businesses, the report found.


“Women are disproportionately owners of foot-traffic-based companies,” such as salons, spas and retail establishments, said Sarah Gustafson, lead data scientist at Gusto, a company that provides payroll and benefit services to small businesses. “What we saw is that female-owned businesses have had larger net losses in their headcounts than male-owned businesses.”

COVID-19 forces women-owned businesses to cut more jobs

Women-owned businesses cut more workers in April – at the height of the pandemic lockdowns – than male-owned businesses, Gusto’s analysis found. From March through September, male-owned businesses had more than double the headcount recovery compared with those owned by women, Gusto said.

Women-owned businesses are less optimistic about the future, according to a study in August from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It found 36% of male-owned businesses plan to increase staffing in the coming year; 24% of female-owned businesses expect to do so.

“That really points to the prolonged negative impact the pandemic can put on women,” says Neil Bradley, chief policy officer for the Chamber of Commerce.

That lack of optimism among women business owners is “a very real thing,” said Melissa Wirt, owner of Latched Mama, an online clothing retailer geared to nursing moms based in Midlothian, Virginia. “There are great partners and great men who support their entrepreneurial wives, but at the end of the day, there is so much extra weight on women’s shoulders that can’t even be measured.”

No relief check

The next few months could pose new threats for businesses if coronavirus cases continue to set records and congressional relief negotiations fail to produce a new aid package, experts and business owners said.

“Without stimulus or some sort of relief, there is a strong expectation in the next couple of months that things will turn worse,” says Daniel Sternberg, head of data science at Gusto.

Doughp (pronounced “Dope”), a cookie dough company started in 2017 by Kelsey Moreira, had more than 20 employees before the pandemic. Most of its revenue came from its location on the Las Vegas Strip.

Moriera, 29, said she noticed foot traffic falling in January as large businesses postponed conventions because of the spread of the coronavirus.

Her retail location is shuttered, and her employee count is down to two: herself and her husband.

“I’m taking it one day at a time,” she said, focusing on pivoting to an online business. “Embracing change is so important.”

New strategies are a familiar theme for the women business owners who spoke with USA TODAY. Estrada started online piemaking classes geared to corporations that want to provide their at-home workers with a bonding experience.

Because 95% of her employees are mothers, Wirt – herself the mother of five children – said she focused on supporting her staff. That included adding a remote learning center to their offices, where employees’ children could attend remote school while their parents worked.

PPP loan helps small business pivot

Wirt faced another challenge when flights stopped arriving from China, where her clothing is produced. She switched to sea freight, which has longer delivery times. A PPP loan helped her company fund the first boat shipment, and she hasn’t cut any of her employees, she said.

“It’s forced us to be more disciplined and forced us to act ahead,” she said. The upside: higher margins, given that sea freight delivery is cheaper than air freight.

Wirt, who said the PPP funds are long gone, said she worries about the future even though her business is going strong.

“I don't have backers or people who are ready to throw money at me if we get into trouble,” Wirt said. “We are only one devastating event away from disaster.”

Readers share their most pressing questions and concerns about the future of work in post-Covid societies.

Source: https://tinyurl.com/yynb5c2z 

Written by: By Bryan Lufkin and Rachel Mishael

It’s been nearly a year since the novel coronavirus began spreading around the world. While we’ve learned a lot about Covid-19 since January – and how to live and work in lockdown – there’s still much we don’t know about how the pandemic will change our societies.

That’s why we’ve rolled out Unknown Questions, our series grappling with these seismic changes by asking leaders and experts across the globe for their input. But today, we’ve turned to you, our LinkedIn readers, for your views on the biggest unknowns about the post-pandemic future.

The future of work

“My biggest question: Why can’t we work from home forever?” asks Kathy L from Virginia. With many workers asking the same thing, several big companies have already answered: “Why not?” Just this month, tech giant Microsoft announced that it would offer staff the option to work from home permanently, just as other Silicon Valley mainstays Facebook and Twitter, as well as Japan’s Fujitsu, did earlier this year.

Shun-ping Chiu in California points out that while remote work was technically possible before the pandemic, what Covid-19 has brought “is a mindset difference that allows people to view remote work as a new normal rather than an occasional opportunity”. And data backs this up: In April, the Office of National Statistics reported that 46% of employed Brits were working from home; in May, 42% of the US workforce were doing the same.

The pandemic has had profound impacts on how we work, and many of us feel that some of the changes are irreversible

“Most of the client meetings, kick-offs, project meetings could easily and effectively be conducted via tools like Teams, WebEx, Zoom and other virtual meeting solutions,” says Gagan Lamba in San Francisco. “Soon enough corporations will recognise the benefit of people working from home, which would result in savings on lease cost, electric bills, shipment cost, administrative cost.”

But some fear losing vital communication skills, or wonder whether they will be as effective or successful professionally as they would be at an office. “I fear we will forget how to communicate, which in my field as a salesperson makes me very nervous,” says Ben Brown from England. “Face-to-face interaction is vital in order to win new business and build a relationship with the customer where they can trust you.”

On the flip side, telework could potentially open up more opportunities. “Everyone who has talent and skills will learn that they can market their talent to the whole world,” says Juliana Carroll in New York. “Everyone who takes their everyday skills for granted will realise that someone will pay for that skill and/or for their time. Every responsible college student will realise that someone will pay for their time to help with children's homework. Every bilingual person will realise that someone will pay for their time to practice another language… It's just a matter of finding the right virtual marketplace.”

But others worry about possible drawbacks to long-term remote working. “On the flip side, it opens up unanswered questions: What is my career growth path? How do I collaborate on new ideas? How do I build a trusted relationship with a customer? How do I engage my team? Is this fair to people with small kids? What are the implications on taxes?” asks Pankaj Goyal, also in San Francisco.

And where does all this leave office buildings? In May, office and retail landlord Land Securities reported that a mere 10% of its office space in the UK was in use. Meanwhile, real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield forecasts that Covid’s hit on the office real estate market will be worse than the global financial crisis, with a net loss of 95 million square feet of real estate in the next year – and that the market might not get back to pre-Covid levels until 2025.

“How is commercial real estate adapting to the post-Covid world?” asks Lisa Hoffman from Virginia. “Is there a shift away from typical tenants to a different tenant or a new space use? How will these changes impact the urban environment, especially downtown hubs that rely on dense office real estate?”

Plus, with the meteoric rise of telework, some are wondering if people will soon be paid based on where they live. One survey this summer of high earners in New York City revealed that 44% of them had thought of moving in the last four months to telework somewhere cheaper to live.

Eric Luna in New York says: “People would do the exact same job but be paid differently because of their home or residential location. Some say this will happen. I personally believe something like it will. Is this avoidable or inevitable?”

Of course, some offices will stay put in their current spot – after all, research in July from Gensler, an architecture firm in San Francisco, found that only 12% of workers want to work from home permanently. “I do not believe that we will find a one-size-fits-all solution,” says Thibault Pelloux-Gervais in California. “I am still convinced that in-person activity is essential to build team spirit, which drives collaboration and innovation. A hybrid model where you would spend some time working from home and some time from an office could become a very common model.”

As the way we work has shifted, so too have the ways we navigate family life and how our children learn

Childcare, coping and inequality

Yet if hybrid does become more common and employers give workers more flexibility, what does it mean for parents whose children are at home doing distance learning? After all, in the US, a whopping 93% of households with school-age children reported having to accommodate distance learning at home during the pandemic. Globally, 1.2 billion children are out of the classroom. Tracey Stewart from Seattle asks: “Will working from home remain a viable solution? Will employers note increases in productivity and cost savings, and offer real flexibility for working parents? Will governments and corporations, post-Covid, offer childcare solutions like generous subsidies or onsite solutions in order to maximise workforce engagement? Many parents are simultaneously loving the flexibility of working from home, but also buckling under the burden of full-time teaching or parenting.”

In this sphere, like many others in the pandemic, inequalities have been laid bare; while 95% of students in countries like Switzerland and Austria have a computer to do schoolwork, only 34% in Indonesia do. “From their academic success to their social skills and mental health, the pandemic is a crisis for today’s children – and the fallout may follow them for the rest of their lives,” says Isabel Santos in Portugal. “When today’s children and adolescents grow up, will they see themselves as a ‘lost generation’, whose lives will forever fall in the shadow of a global pandemic?”

When it comes to Covid-19’s emotional impact, readers aren’t just worried about Zoom fatigue or WiFi blips during video calls. Furloughs, redundancies and slashed pay all threaten livelihoods, with a major impact on mental health. Julie Derrick in Cardiff, Wales, says: “My biggest question (and concern) is how on Earth are we going to cope with the surge in mental health cases, in particular OCD, post-Covid – when mental health resources were already way over-stretched (and underfunded) even pre-Covid.” In the UK, nearly 20% of adults have been experiencing some form of depression during the pandemic – a figure that had doubled since before the outbreak, according to the Office for National Statistics. “I am curious about the post-traumatic effects, how it affects personal relationships,” agrees Marcell Déri in Hungary.

And finally, with inequalities – whether socio-economic or racial - more visible than ever, one question on readers’ minds is whether our societies can change for the better as a result. “Under duress, we tend to regress,” says Dennis Linehan from Flagstaff, Arizona. “So, when we emerge from the pandemic, is humankind motivated by a common goodwill and generosity toward one another or are we generally more pessimistic and revert to a pronounced tribalism?”

Perhaps the most concrete certainty for the future is uncertainty. “I’m objectively curious to see where the waves settle and what becomes a new normal,” says Marek Matthew Getter in New York City “What interests me is what normal will look like. There’s no going back; we cannot unlearn the lessons of Covid.”

CFOs Must Embrace a Culture of Equality

Source: https://tinyurl.com/y6b9p4ju

Diversity among finance leaders is lacking: Only four of the Fortune 100 companies in the U.S. have an Asian, African American, or Black CFO.

The numbers don’t look so good: Only 11 of the Fortune 100 companies in the U.S. have an African American, Black, Asian, Asian American, Hispanic, or Latinx CEO. Just seven have a woman at the helm. (Latinx is a gender-neutral neologism, sometimes used to refer to people of Latin American cultural or ethnic identity in the United States.)

Diversity among finance leaders is similarly lacking: Only four of the Fortune 100 companies in the U.S. have an Asian, African American, or Black CFO, while 11 have a female CFO. There are no Hispanic Americans or Latinx representatives in the group at all. Representation of these groups is drastically lower than the broader U.S. population, and it reflects less progress made for CFOs than we see for Fortune 100 CEOs.

And the Forbes Global 100 list isn’t nearly as diverse as the real world. Sixty-three of those companies’ CFOs are Caucasian, and just 12 are female.

                                                                   Tiffany Brown

Whether it’s flat-out prejudice or unconscious bias at work, people generally expect stability and competence from a white male finance professional, and so that is who they put in charge of their organization’s money. But the finance function is rapidly transforming. CFOs are now the CEO’s right hand — and are expected to be the chief growth officer. They’re not counting beans; they’re heading up digital transformations and finding new value streams. These changes open up the possibilities of who can be a CFO, and who can be perceived as congruent with this evolved role.

Especially now that demand for social justice reform from employees, consumers, and society-at-large is stronger than ever, it’s time to create a culture of equality in the finance function. Not only to get the numbers balanced on paper but to survive and thrive as an organization. While the classic CFO might seem like a solid bet, only a steady stream of new perspectives, ideas, and connections will propel companies safely through disruption and into an increasingly unpredictable business environment.Diversity Drives Growth

It’s clear that inclusion and diversity (I&D) is a value creator for shareholders: Companies with high diversity (on measures of age, ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, or sexual orientation, and whether or not they have diversity programs in place) have stronger profit margins and share gains. The 20 most diverse firms according to this Wall Street Journal ranking have an average operating profit margin of 12%, compared with 8% for the lowest-ranking companies.

Why might inclusion and diversity drive success in the finance function in particular? The CFO has to pull insights out of data in order to make decisions about where to take the business. Facility with math and statistics is important, of course, but a deep understanding of the market and the consumer is also needed to contextualize and extrapolate from the numbers.

Aneel Delawalla

If a finance team is made up of people with different beliefs, backgrounds, and knowledge bases, they will come to more interesting and relevant conclusions — and develop smarter strategies — than they would if they were of the same mindset as every competitor looking at similar facts and figures.

Diverse talent is critical because no company is selling to one type of individual anymore. Customers expect I&D from companies and will spend their money accordingly: Recent I&D research conducted by Accenture’s retail industry practice found that 41% of shoppers have shifted at least 10% of their business away from a retailer that does not reflect their I&D values. Each business has to get much closer to its customers by aligning with their principles, focusing on their experiences, and showing humanity. Decisions can no longer be based solely on ROI. The Nuts and Bolts

CFOs typically arrive at their position after moving up methodically within the organization. That limits the selection pool, but because companies can point to things like the diverse makeup of their board, or of management in less male-dominated fields like human resources, they can “get away” with a homogenous finance leadership team.

When it comes to gender at least, the pipeline is improving: The percentage of women in MBA programs in the U.S. has risen from 32% in 2011 to 39% in 2019. But a variety of factors seem to keep women from rising to the highest echelons in finance: They are not given high-profile assignments as often and sometimes see their ambitions derailed by family and childcare responsibilities.

Women of color, of course, face racism on top of sexism. A 2018 study found that only 13% of African American and Black female Harvard Business School graduates over the past 40 years had reached the senior-most executive ranks (whereas 40% of non-African American and Black Harvard MBA degree holders were in the executive suite).

Finance will have to take proactive measures to truly win the “war for talent.” Setting targets — and declaring them loudly and clearly — is a great way to hold people accountable and see results. Our company serves as a case in point: Accenture has a female CEO, CFO, CHRO, CMO, and CIO right now. That’s because we’ve made “getting to equal” a priority, underscored by public pronouncements, for the entire company.

Leaders who express a goal to diversify and who communicate the “why” behind their initiatives will go a long way toward creating an inclusive atmosphere — one that is good for all types of employees. Accenture research on workplace cultures of equality has shown that bold leadership is key to building an environment where everyone can be their authentic, whole selves, and thrive. Given their recently elevated roles within organizations, CFOs have a special opportunity to be those bold leaders.

We’ve noticed that a typical source of hesitancy around efforts to diversify is a false belief that it’s a zero-sum game. But companies don’t have to fire a white man for every Black woman they hire. They don’t have to lose the benefits of a 20-year veteran’s perspective; they can simply layer in other, equally valuable perspectives. Diversifying should be additive.

Raising those diversity numbers — and making your culture more inclusive — takes work. Here are 10 ways to build a finance function that is ready for the future.

Ten Recommendations

• You get what you measure. Set quantitative and qualitative inclusion and diversity targets now and begin to measure them. Tie them to leadership compensation and promotion eligibility.
• Leverage data and technology. For example, use AI to analyze promotion, compensation, and termination analysis to detect discrimination or unconscious bias.
• Build the talent pipeline. Start partnering with high schools and colleges to encourage interest in finance; recruit heavily (and flexibly) when filling junior-level positions.
• Tweak the trajectory. Let talent move across functions, or even set up rotational programs to help all employees gain skills and experience.
• Let them stretch. Give younger talent higher-profile and more challenging assignments as a show of faith as well as an opportunity to grow.
• Give feedback. The most common refrain we hear from our fellow professionals of color is that they are not getting the feedback they need to improve and advance in their organizations. Managers must take the time to offer constructive criticism, or they’ll risk losing top talent.
• Expand the team. Don’t think in terms of a zero-sum game where a diverse hire replaces a non-diverse hire. Instead, think about how to create a broader circle of voices.
• Expect — and embrace — dissension. Diversity brings more disagreement, which can make some people uncomfortable. But it’s ultimately healthy since it is a rich source of innovation. If everyone on your team is nodding along, you can bet an opportunity is getting overlooked.
• Build personal relationships at work. Both conflict and feedback are more easily navigated among people who know and respect each other. Leaders should make an effort to build bonds with high-potential employees. Just as being diverse on paper isn’t enough to reap the benefits of various perspectives, being a sponsor in name only isn’t enough to advance worthy candidates to the top of the finance function.
• Encourage soft networking. Informal internal events can connect talent with higher-ups who can act as connectors and perhaps even mentors and sponsors.

The bottom line? The next billion dollars of revenue or the next decade of growth for your organization is going to come from a team that can question longstanding beliefs about who should run finance and how finance should be run.

Tiffany Brown and Aneel Delawalla are Accenture strategy managing directors in the CFO & enterprise value practice.

Supporting Latinas can fuel economic growth and help the US rebuild post-COVID-19. Here are 3 ways to start.

Source: https://tinyurl.com/yy2gz4gf

Written by: Beatríz Acevedo. 

The US economy is floundering as others rebound quickly. We're struggling just to return to where we were a few months ago. But is that enough?

Of course not. Recovery isn't sufficient. We have to reimagine. This COVID-induced catastrophe presents an opportunity for a stronger, fairer, and more prosperous America. We can speed the process of regrowth in the short term and rebirth in the future by turning the economic potential of an underestimated, overlooked group of Americans into economic activity. 

That group is Latinas.

Helen Torres, CEO of HOPE (Hispanas Organized for Political Equality) argues that their new study shows that female Hispanics are uniquely positioned to power the engine of economic growth and create a more vibrant, prosperous America.

To date, Latinas have been excluded from full participation in our financial system, with fewer opportunities to invest and to save; fewer assets that drive wealth creation like homes, inheritances, retirement accounts and stocks; and less basic financial education. This constrains their growth and limits their potential.

Unleashing that potential will rebuild our faltering middle class, provide disproportionately large economic returns in the near term and the future, and help to eliminate the racial and class tensions that poison our current conversation.

This isn't a social-justice argument (though I could certainly make one.) This is about numbers. Latinas will drive economic growth for a number of reasons. 

There are a lot of us.

Latinas are about 9% of the population, rising to over 13% by 2060. We are the largest growth cohort in the U.S., so any improvement in our economic condition produces large improvements for everyone in our country. 

We are young.

The median age of US-born Latinas is 19 compared to 45 for White women. So we're able to take more risks, aim higher, and our economic contributions will continue to grow longer into the future. Supporting Latinas now will produce the best results — the longer we wait, the less impact we'll have. 

We are entrepreneurial.

Latinas opened 2.3 million new firms nationwide between 2014 and 2019. That's 18% of all women-owned businesses in that period. We also grow quickly: we increased employee headcount by 30% in that period, so we're creating lots of new jobs. Supporting the transition from microbusinesses to larger enterprises will increase economic activity and create even more jobs. 

We have a large gap between actual and potential performance. 

Latinas currently earn about 54 cents for every white male dollar — the least of any demographic. This is deplorable. But it also means that every dollar deployed to a Latina goes almost twice as far. In the short term, investing in Latinas is cost-effective and produces greater lift. In the long term, as Latinas approach pay parity — and we must — we'll generate more revenue, more taxes, more spending and more saving. 

We have the power of the purse.

Latinas control 75% of household and discretionary spending in Latino homes. Given that by 2024 Hispanic buying power will be a projected $2.34 trillion, the benefits of financial education and access to investment resources are obvious.

Long story short, empowering Latinas economically is how we're going to grow the economy more quickly and build a new way forward. Small investments in each of three categories will produce large returns for all Americans.

Here are the actions we should take.

Education:

• Require Latina-specific student aid from Federal and State governments. More Pell Grants, more Work Study programs, less discrimination in providing them.
• Deploy Reach-and-Teach programs to proactively provide culturally-relevant Financial Basics education. Push the info out to Latinas, don't make them come find it.
• Develop community support. Create Latina-to-Latina peer networks for financial tutoring, mentoring and advice. 

Ressources:

• Create Latina-specific Federal microloans and direct grants.
• Fund studies through Q2 2021 on the Latina Pay Gap, then start fixing it in Q3.
• Pressure banks to make more microloans to more Latina businesses.
• Demand more local and state support for organizations that provide grants and loans to Latina microbusinesses.
• Mandate fair access for all to bank accounts and investment vehicles.Support:
• Organize social campaigns to pressure companies to sign the "Equal Pay Pledge."
• Finally fix healthcare. Everyone benefits from this, but freeing Latinas in particular from these expenses allows them to reinvest the savings in economic growth.

Empowering Latinas to propel themselves to greater economic achievement propels us all. We've got a lot of work to do. Let's get to it.

Beatríz is a three-time Emmy award-winning producer, community builder, entrepreneur and philanthropist. At SUMA Wealth, she's promoting financial inclusion by engaging, educating and empowering US millennial Latinos to close the wealth gap. Her previous startup mitú continues to be the leading digital media brand for that audience. Beatríz sits on numerous boards and advisory boards lending her unique cultural insights to The LA2028 Olympics, Annenberg Foundation's PledgeLA, Delta Airlines, The Latino Community Foundation, Homeboy Industries, 9th Wonder, Latino Donor Collaborative, LA Collab, Pocketwatch and Encantos Media. She is an advisor to the Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, as part of his Tech Council, and recently featured in Inc's Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs of 2020 list, and Ellevest's 14 Latinx Women+ Disrupting Money and Fighting for Equality.


This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author(s).

Why Closing The Wage Gap On Latina Equal Pay Day Is A Win For Us All

Source: https://tinyurl.com/y4gcykqp
Written by: Holly Corbett

ContributorDiversity & Inclusion.

Today is Latina Equal Pay Day, which marks how far into the year the average Latina must work to make what the average white, non-Hispanic man made the previous year. It’s 2020 and Latinas still make just 55 cents on the dollar compared to white men, and the gap widens for Latinas with higher education levels, according to LeanIn.org. That translates to more than $1 million in lost paychecks of the course of her career.

Here are some reasons why this wage gap exists, how it harms families and the economy—and ideas for closing the gap for good.

Latina women may have been taught to stay quiet. There are many factors that contribute to the wage gap, including gender and racial bias. There are also cultural nuances that may prevent Latinas from speaking up. “There is a saying in Spanish, ‘Calladita te ves mas bonita,’ which translates to, ‘If you’re quiet, you look prettier,’” says Yai Vargas, founder of The Latinista, a national network for Latinas and women of color.

The notion that women and girls should stay quiet may have some historical roots. “In this country, people rarely talk about the history of people who are not Black or white. We don’t talk about where Latinos come from, or where Asians come from,” says Nely Galan, media executive, entrepreneur, and author of Self Made. “You often see in the news [Latinos] come here for economic reasons, but so many of us come here as political refugees. If you’re a woman in Latin America and you’re seen as radical because you speak up, you could disappear. When we come here, we’re told to be quiet by our parents, and just be grateful we’re here and for all this country has to offer.”


There are real barriers to advancement. For every 100 men who are promoted to manager, only 68 Latinas are promoted, according to LeanIn.org. This keeps many Latinas stuck in entry-level positions.

“I think the wage gap exists in part because Latinas are not being given the same opportunities to apply for the same jobs, are not receiving the same training and are not being promoted at the same rate,” says Mónica Ramírez, founder and president of Justice for Migrant Women. “Also, Latina workers, we over-index in some of the lowest paid jobs, such as domestic work, the service industry, and agriculture. Yet no matter the job, Latinas are being underpaid across the board, regardless of position, industry or education level. We have a cultural problem in this country where employers are not valuing Latinas equally for our contributions.”

The myth that hard work always pays off.
Keeping your head down and getting the work done doesn’t automatically translate to a promotion. “We are taught if we work hard, we will get recognized,” says Vargas. “But it doesn’t work that way in corporate America; it rewards people who speak up and demand. While it is not on Latinas to solve the wage gap, if you can not articulate why you should get paid more, the value you bring to the role, or the projects you’ve accomplished this year, you’re dead in the water. It’s important to research competitive salaries, do a self-assessment of your qualifications and find ways to tie your role to the company’s bottom line.”

The impact of covering in the workplace. Latinas may not feel they can be their authentic selves in the office, and the energy spent downplaying their differences from the accepted status quo may interfere with their ability to shine. “There are a lot of Latinas who come to this country and feel their ability to speak another language actually hurts their mobility,” says Vargas. “They spend so much time and energy going to accent-reduction classes to speak in white spaces. They try to fit into a culture rather than add to a culture. They should be able to use this as their super power rather than assimilate.”

We must stand united. There is strength in numbers, and in finding your voice. “So many of my African American friends say to me, ‘Why are [Latinas] so quiet? Why don’t you speak up?’” says Galan. “People may not realize the trauma we may have when we come to this country. We have to have this understanding between all multicultural women, because apart we are nothing, together we are everything. We are the number one emerging market in the world. Without us, there is no economy. That is a great power. Unless we understand each other’s pain, we won’t move forward. This is a country built on voices, and we must help each other find our voice.”

There is a need for cultural onboarding. Minority women are leaving the workplace to start their own businesses, in part because they don’t feel like they can be successful or like they fully belong in corporate America. In fact, women of color accounted for 50% of all women-owned businesses in 2019, according to AMEX’s State of Women-Owned Business Report.

“The truth is that African American and Latina women are leaving corporate America and starting businesses, because they don’t feel safe in that environment,” says Galan. “Corporate America says they want diversity, and bring [diverse candidates] in, but they often don’t stay. We throw these Latina and Black women in these companies and they get inadvertent comments about how they don’t fit in. I’ve had bosses say to me, “Your lipstick is too bright, you’re too much, you’re too passionate. I was a goody two shoes who did everything right, but I’m an example of someone who left corporate America because I was uncomfortable.”

Part of the issue may lie in the inability to successfully onboard employees from different backgrounds and cultures. “There are examples of success. Corporate America could learn a lot from the military, because the thing they are doing right is how they onboard diverse people,” says Galan. “The military is far from perfect, and has had issues with things such as sexual harassment and LGBTQ+ issues among other things, but you do see a lot of minorities rise through the ranks and succeed in this environment. Why? They’re able to onboard people from different cultures to align with a bigger mission; everyone has to learn the basics and the values of the culture, and you can decide how far you want to rise through that meritocracy.”

The wage gap may widen in the Covid-19 economy. Roughly 324,000 Latina workers exited the workforce in September 2020—nearly three times the rate of white women and more than four times the rate of Black women, according to the New York Times. The financial price paid for the average woman who opts out and tries to re-enter the workforce is an 18% decrease in their earning power on average—and a 37% decrease when they’re out for three years or more. This will have a lasting impact on families and the U.S. economy.

“During the pandemic, we’re seeing that people of color have been among the hardest hit, and it shouldn’t be shocking to anyone,” says Ramirez. “Many BIPOC community members do not have the safeguards, financial or otherwise, to keep us safe during a crisis like this one. For Latina workers, if you don’t have childcare when schools go virtual or paid leave that allows you to take time off to care for kids or sick family members, then people are forced to leave the workforce. When people feel fairly compensated and valued, they do better work because they feel valued. When you close the pay gap for Latinas, it will result in a benefit overall for the company—employees will give that back and invest that positive energy into the workplace.”

It’s not about assimilating; it’s about fusion. Whites will be the minority by 2045, with Hispanics making up the largest ‘minority’ group after whites, according to Brookings. Companies need to evolve to these shifting demographics now in order to survive and thrive.

“Can we just assimilate into the culture? No, because the culture is becoming and will be majority Black and Brown, with Latinas at the top numerically,” says Galan. “America is the only country where it’s grown so exponentially that minorities are becoming the majority. This moment in our country, we are not getting along. I think that, while we must fight for social justice, it is difficult to change people’s beliefs or dictate that they not be racist. But we have to aspire to be a country that is not so divided, and that respects different points of view. However, even with all our problems, there is nowhere else in the world where you can speak up or have such an opportunity to use your voice.”

Top 5 Tips to start saving. By Soledad Tanner

 

The 2020 economic status of latinas Report

 Source: https://www.latinas.org/eslr2020