REPORT: Women & BIPOC People Have Been Disproportionately Impacted by COVID Unemployment

Millions of Canadians have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. As a recruitment agency, we’ve seen the effects first hand. But some have been more impacted than others. A recent report, The State Of Talent: Layoffs and unemployment in the innovation economy during COVID-19, takes a look at who specifically was impacted and by how much.

Using the survey data collected in August 2020, the report uncovers important details about who may have been impacted by unemployment during the COVID-19 crisis in Canada’s tech startup community. The report identified that women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) people have been disproportionately impacted by unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here we’ll provide a summary of the report’s findings:

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General Findings

Here are some of the overall findings about the impact of COVID-19:

• 59% of survey respondents were laid off as a result of the pandemic.
• 41% struggled to find employment. 89% of people were laid off before May 1^st, 2020.
• 6% were told layoffs would be temporary. Of those, only 18.3% have been rehired.

Women, Racialized People, Immigrants Disproportionately Affected by COVID-19 Layoffs

Here is what the survey found about how women and BIPOC people were impacted by the pandemic:

• Women made up over 50% of all layoffs and 42% of all tech workers, even though they make up about 46% of the workforce and only 20% of the tech workforce.
• 61% of respondents identified as a racialized person compared to 22% of the Canadian working population.
• Of those laid off, 54% were immigrants and 27% were newcomers (moved to Canada within the past 5 years.)
• The employment status of immigrants was negatively impacted at a rate of 2.65x greater than their representation in the national workforce.

Compensation Gaps

Salary continues to be a cause for concern. Gaps remain. The report found significant gaps in compensation for underrepresented groups. Findings include:

• Women make, on average, $17,825.51 less than men
• Racialized people make, on average, $1,724 less than white people
• Newcomers make, on average, $13,700 less than Canada-born workers
• 6% of respondents indicated they felt they were underpaid
• Women were more likely to indicate that they were underpaid

Based on this report, it’s clear certain portions of the Canadian workforce continue to be under-represented, unfairly treated, and not compensated appropriately. There is still a lot of work to be done to diversify the workplace.

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IQ PARTNERS is an Executive Search & Recruitment firm supporting clients across the country. We help companies hire better, hire less & retain more. We have specialist teams of recruiters in Executive Search / Board & C-Suite, Technology, Media, Digital & Marketing, Accounting & Finance, Financial Services & Insurance, Cannabis, Startup, Data Science, Consumer, eCommerce & Retail, Operations & HR, Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Engineering, Legal & Professional Services, Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences, Non-Profit & Sustainability, and Sales. IQ PARTNERS has its head office in Toronto. Click here to view current job openings and to register with us.