COVID-19 and Gender Inequality in the American Workplace

The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on businesses and workers worldwide. Companies had to adopt online business models to survive, which forced an unprecedented workforce migration as employees left their offices to work from their homes.

As the world starts to emerge from the pandemic, we’re beginning to understand the many effects of this economic and social upheaval on workers.

New research shows that gender inequality, long a problem in the American workplace, worsened during COVID-19, and the insurance industry is no exception.

In March, Accenture surveyed 176 U.S. women in insurance to understand how the pandemic and the sudden shift to remote work affected them.

We looked at the professional and personal effects this had on work-life balance and caregiving roles. At the same time, we surveyed 134 C-level insurance executives in North America to discover what the future of work looks like for their organizations.