What you need to know about equity, inclusion and social justice in the workplace

With a disproportionate health and economic impact on people of colour, women, the poor and the LGBTQI+ community, COVID-19 is shining a light on systemic racism and social injustice.

But lockdowns didn’t create these problems. Even before the pandemic, gender, racial or disability gaps were persistent, especially when it comes to achieving decent work and economic opportunities.

In 2019, women held 28% of managerial positions and 24.9% of seats in national parliaments, according to the UN SDG Progress Report 2020 – an improvement, but far from gender balance. And with gender parity 99.5 years away, none of us will experience it in our lifetimes, says the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2020.

Gender pay gaps are even wider for non-white women – just one of many examples of the impact of workplace racial biases, according to Adwoa Bagalini, the Forum’s Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion Lead.

Likewise, people with disabilities “often experience unequal hiring and promotion standards, unequal pay for equal work and occupational segregation. Only 4% of businesses are focused on making offerings inclusive of disability,” according to the Forum's Closing the Disability Inclusion Gap project.

COVID-19 exacerbates these problems. For example, only 20% of Black workers in the United States have been able to work from home during the pandemic, compared to 30% of white workers and 37% of Asian workers, according to McKinsey. Black Americans are more likely to work in low-wage, “high-contact, essential services” roles, the report explains – which not only puts them at greater risk of infection but also perpetuates the racial wealth gap.

Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s good for the economy and for business. Open For Business, a coalition of companies advancing LGBTQI+ equality, shows a strong positive correlation between a country’s acceptance of LGBTQI+ people and the resilience of its economy. And for businesses, a “disability-inclusive business strategy” leads to 28% higher revenue and 30% higher profit margins.

“While much of the Great Reset will be about environmental sustainability and the better use of technology, it is also about seeking greater fairness and less inequality,” said Forum Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab.

As we rebuild economies, reopen business and reconfigure our workplaces, we also have a chance to shift towards hardwiring greater diversity, equity and inclusion into these workplaces of the future, too.

Social justice initiatives can complement and even accelerate post-pandemic rebuilding.

In January 2020, the Forum launched Hardwiring Gender Parity into the Future of Work, an initiative aimed at accelerating the pathways for women to get the jobs of the future. By 2022, companies committed to:

Founding member Ingka Group, the parent company of IKEA, took the pledge further by committing to “achieving equal pay for work of equal value by the end of 2021, as well as reaching 50/50% gender balance in every unit, level, board and committee.”

In May 2020, the killing of George Floyd inspired companies around the world to support the Black Lives Matter movement and take action to end systemic racism. In addition to supporting current employees and speaking out against injustice, companies can seize this moment to address disparities in talent sourcing and selection, improve benchmarking and cultivate a culture of inclusivity, as a recent Forum toolkit explains.

As one example, IBM unveiled a new quantum education and research initiative for historically Black colleges and universities that includes a $100 million investment. The company’s current CEO, Arvind Krishna, is co-chair of an effort announced this summer to hire 100,000 New Yorkers who are from low-income minority neighborhoods by 2030.

Efforts such as these will not only improve diversity and inclusion but will also help the company survive the economic crisis by bringing in new talent for the jobs of tomorrow while also boosting the local economy – a win for everyone involved.