These male-dominated industries were hiring more women. Then COVID-19 happened.

This is Working Together, a weekly series on the changing face of U.S. business. Have ideas about what we should discuss as a community next week? Let me know in the comments using #WorkingTogether or email me at caroline@linkedin.com.

Underrepresented groups often bear the brunt of a crisis. Today’s pandemic is no different, with women facing a rough hiring climate, particularly in male-dominated industries. 

Since the pandemic began, women’s share of new hires has taken a hit, dropping from 46.94% of hires pre-COVID to 44.86% of hires post-COVID, according to an analysis of LinkedIn data. The numbers are more lopsided in industries that have historically struggled to hire women.

Entertainment and finance — both industries that saw an increase in female hires before the pandemic — have lost ground. Technology — an industry with one of the lowest portions of female hires — has erased the meager gains it made over the past two years. And while LinkedIn data cannot yet speak to hiring trends across race, experts predict that the hiring imbalances are even worse for women of color. 

With fewer jobs to go around, as thousands of companies implement layoffs and furloughs, biases that existed in these industries before the pandemic may be growing even worse now, said Emily Martin, a vice president at the National Women’s Law Center. 

“The engine of hiring bias is decision makers [who feel] more confident hiring people who remind them of themselves,” said Martin. “At a moment when there are a lot of external stressors, that search for comfort by the decision maker — sometimes conscious and sometimes not — could kick into a slightly higher drive.” 

Starting in 2017, the MeToo and Times Up movements put a spotlight on working environments that were less than hospitable to female workers. And while many companies across entertainment, finance and tech implemented programs and policies to combat these issues, these efforts may get lost in the pandemic, said C. Nicole Mason, CEO of The Institute for Women’s Policy Research. 

Last month, Google reportedly scaled back its internal diversity and inclusion training programs in the wake of the pandemic. Alphabet (Google’s parent company) CEO Sundar Pichai responded that the tech giant is investing more in its diversity efforts than ever before. 

“The work was just beginning to start,” Mason said. “It’s devastating for the industries as a whole and for women specifically.” 

The growing gender imbalance in hiring comes to light just as national protests against police brutality has forced corporate America to examine its own systemic biases. In the past three weeks, the 100 biggest U.S. companies have committed $1.63 billion to organizations combating racism and inequality, according to an analysis by Axios.  

But to make a truly meaningful difference, companies will need to do more than open their wallets. Companies must also reconsider how they are building their future workforce. Beyond tracking the gender and racial breakdown of the employees they are hiring, promoting and firing, Mason recommends expanding the initial screening process for job candidates to include people from diverse backgrounds. Establishing criteria for hiring that is not just unbiased, but antiracist as well, will be critical. 

“This moment provides an opportunity for companies to reflect on their practices and lean in and understand why these policies and practices transform their corporate culture,” said Mason, “That is a lot of work.” 

A pandemic-fueled uptick in hiring bias may just be one factor in the recent dip in female hires, Martin notes. This economic crisis differs from previous ones because the pandemic has shuttered massive portions of our caregiving infrastructure, schools and daycare centers in particular. This has put an outsize burden on women, who are more likely to take on childcare responsibilities at home. So, fewer women could be applying to jobs across industries right now. 

While the underlying trends behind the hiring slowdown for women may vary, one thing is clear: How companies respond now will have huge implications on their future talent pool, and their success. 

“When employers neglect these issues because of other distractions in the current moment, that ultimately will harm employers by keeping really talented female employees off the job,” said Martin.  

I want to hear from you: Have diversity and inclusion efforts at your company shifted during the pandemic and amid national protests? Let me know in the comments below using #WorkingTogether or send me an email at caroline@Linkedin.com .

LinkedIn data scientist Brian Xu identified nearly 8.5 million U.S. positions added to profiles from January 2018 to April 2020 to count as hires. Gender and age are self-reported by members or inferred from LinkedIn profile data. The share of hiring and job applications is calculated for all gender and age cuts in 2018, 2019, pre-COVID period (January 1 - March 15, 2020), and post-COVID period (after March 15, 2020).

What’s Working

Protection, long overdue. The Supreme Court’s decision on Monday to extend civil rights protections to gay, lesbian and transgender people will protect them from employment discrimination. It’s a big victory for LGBTQ+ rights, but there is still more work to be done: A recent LinkedIn survey found that members of the LGBTQ+ community still face barriers being themselves at work. [LinkedIn] 

Combating bias at work. Organizations across the country are making pledges to fight racism. Now what? LinkedIn Learning put together a series of free courses you can take, right now, to turn words into action. [LinkedIn] 

What’s Not

‘Crises amplify existing inequalities’ Women in the U.S. are not only more likely to have lost their jobs during this pandemic, but the long term impact of this crisis on their earning power and place in society could be worse than for men as well. Having more women in positions of leadership is essential to upend the deepening of inequalities we’ve seen in past recessions, said Nahla Valji, senior gender adviser at the UN. [NYTimes]  

Almost half. A recent survey by Essence found that nearly half of black women experience racism most frequently at work. This troubling finding is grounding in this reality: The office is the place where Americans are most likely to talk with people from different races. [Essence]

Who’s Pushing Us Forward

‘I failed. I failed at this.’ After hundreds of CEOs have pledged their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, now it’s time for action. Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Chip Bergh joined me live yesterday to discuss the results of the company’s first-ever diversity and inclusion report and how he is thinking about ending systemic racism within his organization moving forward. “I failed. I failed at this. And that’s a hard thing to kind of swallow…. I’ve let people down and I have failed at my responsibility to build a diverse organization on all levels in this company,” Bergh said. Tune in above.