‘Burnout will drive our women out of the workforce’

THE stress of juggling domestic duties and working from home through Covid-19 will drive thousands of women out of the workplace, it has been claimed.

Workers are feeling more stressed because of Covid-19 with women suffering far worse than men, a survey has found.

Women feel worse off as they are responsible for much of the management of the home as well as working during the Covid-19 pandemic. This will lead to burnout and an exodus of women from employment, Mark Doyle, head of human resources consultants OMT Global, said.

Almost half of women find it difficult to balance work and home life compared with just 35% of men, the survey found.

Mr Doyle said: ‘There are multiple reasons women are feeling more stressed but the one that seems to be jumping out is in general women are more responsible for managing the care of the home and the family,’ he said. ‘Reading the feedback from the survey, for them they can never switch off and that is a problem.’

Ireland has one of the lowest rates of women in the workforce in the EU and he fears the stress of working through the pandemic and managing the home will lead to that rate worsening.

Irish women’s participation in the workforce was 64% in 2019, an increase from 59% in 2009 compared to male participation rate of 75%. This is below the EU average and compares to 72% female participation in the workforce in Germany and 71% in Britain.

Mr Doyle added: ‘I really think we’re going to see that. For me it’s almost guaranteed based on the data, if they have that choice financially... I think a burnout situation is increasingly likely’