이번주 시사영어 강의 기사 : 재택근무와 출퇴근, 여자 직원들과 경영진의 생각 차이

[조국현]

이번 주에는

최근 증가하는 미국 CEO들의 출퇴근 요구에도 불구하고,

미국의 여성 근로자들이 남자들보다 더 많이 재택 근무를 하고 있다는 내용을 가지고

영어훈련하겠습니다.

제로섬 게임의 사회에서 경영진과 근로자들은 어떻게 타협을 해야할지

힌트를 얻으시지요.

글쓴이가 잘못 쓴 부분들도 찾아보시고요~

[빨간색 부분은 강의 듣기 전에 먼저 고민해 보세요. 영어 고수가 되기 위한 훈련입니다]

[영어훈련 하면서 글쓴이의 논리를 감상하시면, 여러분의 논리력도 강해집니다]

In America’s Return to the Office, Women Are Falling Behind

More men than women are back in their cubicles, but remaining remote comes with risks

By Te-Ping Chen / WSJ

America’s return to the office is unfolding unevenly for men and women.

Five years ago, Covid-19 ushered in an era of widespread remote work. Since then, many workers have headed back to their cubicles—but surveys show more men have returned than women.

The gap reflects both women’s preferences, but also the balance they are often striking between work and family demands, according to economists. More women than ever are working outside the home, but they are also likely to bear the biggest share of responsibilities for child care and chores.

Among employed men, 29% said they spent time working from home in 2024, down from 34% the prior year, according to a new Labor Department survey. For women, that figure stayed largely flat at 36%.

While the flexibility can be a big help for working parents, it also means women risk losing out on career advancement by working from home.

“It creates that barrier where they don’t know who you are and why they should try not to lay you off,” said Katt Guadarrama, a 31-year-old mother of three in Canby, Ore., who recently lost her remote human-resources job. Her husband works in person for a school. “I wasn’t able to show how good I could be at my job,” she said.

Still, Guadarrama said she prefers working remotely, at least while her children—ages 4 to 9—are still young. She recently turned down an in-person offer with a $100,000 salary because she estimated she would lose about half her income for child care. The decision “almost broke me,” she said.

Labor Department data released in late June and drawn from an annual survey of 7,700 people measure what percentage of employed workers spent any amount of time working at home on an average day. The survey shows the remote-work gender gap waxing and waning in recent years, but also a consistent trend: The gap has been wider since the pandemic than it was beforehand.

A cooling white-collar labor market has reduced workers’ work-from-anywhere leverage. Companies from Amazon.com to Alphabet’s Google have ordered workers back to offices, saying it improves collaboration and efficiency. In a recent KPMG survey, 86% of chief executives polled said they planned to reward employees who come into the office with favorable assignments, raises or promotions.

Remote work has been a boon, particularly for mothers who have long paid a penalty in the workplace. “The woman who thought she’d go on leave when she had her first or second child can now decide, ‘Hell no, I can still earn money and work from home,’ ” said Claudia Goldin, a Harvard economist who studies women in the workforce.

Economists think remote-work flexibility has helped more women join the labor force. But they also risk steep costs, including fewer promotion opportunities or chances to get hands-on guidance from colleagues.

Women who don’t work alongside their peers get less feedback on their work than similarly situated men, according to Emma Harrington, an assistant economics professor at the University of Virginia.

"Women are less inclined to ask questions while remote than their male peers," she said.

Christine Chen, 37, plans to start spending more time at home because she recently gave birth to her first child. She has a hybrid human-resources job in Chicago. 

Being in the office helps her feel more visible and boosts her sense of morale, she said. She also finds meetings are better in person, since there are more chances to speak with colleagues immediately afterward to clear up any misunderstandings. But she is grateful she gets to strike a home-and-office balance.

“We go through so many transitions in life and we need that flexibility,” she said.

Some people can benefit professionally from remote work, but these are most likely to be seasoned workers, said Federal Reserve economist Natalia Emanuel, who studies women and remote work. In their case, staying home can make it easier for them to focus on their most direct tasks, compared with things like mentorship demands that pop up in offices, she said.

“That takes time, effort and attention,” Emanuel said. At the same time, she said, more senior workers’ absence from the office can be detrimental for younger workers who need support.