GLS
Consulting, Inc. 68% of women reported “downsides” of working in
the new economy include uncertainty about the future, the constant change, the
emotional roller coaster, the stress of a 24/7 life, and the difficulty
achieving work/family balance.
·
Many felt that the pace of change was out of control, or
that it left them on an emotional roller coaster:
“For people of either gender,
working at a startup is a hectic roller-coaster ride. You have to have
significant inner strength to be able to hang on, rein in your emotions,
concentrate on your work, and try not to be distracted by things like stock
prices and lawsuits and shareholders trooping through and things like that.”
“The stupid Internet time.”
·
Others thought that the demands of the new economy made it
difficult to obtain work/family balance:
“No life besides work.”
“The downside is that rapid
change can get a little out of control and both men and women are failing to set
boundaries for themselves as it relates to the separation between work and life.
The expectations of most companies in this new economy are unreasonable so it is
very easy to get sucked in.”
“For women, the expectation
that you can juggle it all-personal, home office, and the reality is you
can’t.”
“High risk, high stress, too
much focus on professional over personal life.”
·
Others cited the work culture and long work days as a source
of stress:
“Long hours, high stresses, 24/7 culture and working with a bunch of young unprofessional individuals can take its toll.”
“The downside for both men and
women is the work culture being established in these industries of sacrificing
all else for work. I think this is a very dangerous direction. If it keeps up
we’re going to have a whole generation of embittered and unhappy people who
have plenty of money, but are left wondering why society is going to hell.”
·
Women also talked about fear or failure and a lack of job
and market security:
“The risk of failure is
immense. The sheer weight of the risk can be very debilitating. Our colleagues
who have chosen a more stable, conventional path seem sometimes to be taking a
more responsible attitude toward their families and toward their own security.
There is some guilt associated with this.”
“High change environments can
also mean job insecurity or, more likely, that the job you signed up for has
morphed into something less glamorous (not much different than the old economy,
now is it!)
“Lots and lots of
stress about the market and/or product-will it fail, is there a market, will
there be an IPO, will this company be around in 6 months.”
In
addition, a statistically significant percentage of women with children at home,
keenly experienced the pressure of the uncertainty, stress and difficult
balance.
One woman explains:
“My
general feeling is that it’s less friendly to women in particular, and to
people with families in
general. This is especially true at a start-up, and I missed the most stressful
part of that at my company. With two kids I couldn’t have done it.”
23% of women reported that they encounter some of the
same old gender problems. They felt
devalued, invisible, underpaid, and overlooked for advancement.
Some reported having difficulty finding VC funding for their ventures.
“The downside for women
is that we have not made a lot more progress. Men have forced the old-boys
network into the new economy. They are slower to recognize the value of
collaboration, even among competitors. Men continue to do their business through
the old-boys network. Women who are talented are shut out or forced into
mid-management, traditional customer-service, marketing and caretaking roles
even when they know more than their male counterparts. Also, the conflict
between IT and E-Business plays out a traditional masculine vs. feminine
cultural conflict.”
“Dominated by young,
single, childless people, especially white men-little respect for or
acknowledgement of those who have come before or who have knowledge to
disseminate. Gross amounts of hubris on all sides. Women get less respect in the
working environment; It’s more difficult to stand up and be heard, especially
in a tech company-engineers especially tend to discount women’s opinions as
uninformed. Long working hours, generally mediocre benefits.”
“For more experienced
women coming from “old” but much more diverse companies, a new economy job
can mean feeling like you just fell back 15 years to a room full of white guys
in ties—ok, golf shirts. From a leadership perspective, the “new economy
sometimes looks a lot like the old, old economy, except dressed more
casually.”
“I feel that the “new
economy” has spawned a “good old boys network,” that operates much the
same way as former male-dominated industries did. In some ways it’s worse,
though. The 30-somethings that run our company surround themselves with their
friends because they want people they can trust (who can blame them for that)
but they then complain that they can’t find any women for upper management
roles. It makes them sound progressive, but if they really wanted to promote
women, they would have done it by now. At least with the “good old boy,”
(network) they admitted their prejudice.”
22% of women reported that the lack of infrastructure,
administrative support, experienced management, good planning, communication and
training were downsides of the new economy. (In a later question on how women
wanted their companies to operate differently, 37% responded that they wished
for more experienced management, better infrastructure and internal
communications.)
“Management is
generally awful.”
“ Many “execs” are
young and unseasoned, don’t know how to manage.”
“Lack of resources or
structure. May have inexperienced management team.”
“Lack of planning,
constant fluxes, hi-turnover, miscommunication of ever changing goals. “
“Poor organizational
infrastructure, direction changes frequently and abruptly, poor internal
communication, lack of direction, many people without good
leadership/interpersonal skills.”
Summary of downsides:
It is interesting to
note that women speak as passionately about the downsides as they do about
the exhilaration of working in the new economy. The downsides seem to
have the power to overshadow the upsides for women when we think about
sustaining the lifestyle in the long term. Companies have made great strides in
creating an environment in which women can both thrive, and also have the
potential to derail in the long term. How can we create an environment not free
from stress, but one that allows for healthier responses to the inherent stress
of constant change and uncertainty.
Women understand that
the lack of leadership and organizational infrastructure is detrimental to the
business. Not only do they see this as a downside, they also include this in
their response to how they wish companies operated differently.
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