A Potential Exodus of Working Women?

What does 338,000 + 183,000 equal? A disturbing trend for working women, and a major problem for leaders.

Since the start of the year, women have been leaving the workforce at nearly double the rate at which men have been entering it, and experts worry the trend is just beginning. According to an analysis of US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, 338,000 women have left the workforce since January, while 183,000 have men entered it. Experts caution that the numbers could shift, but for now they say systemic issues like lower pay and high childcare costs are undermining many prior gains for women workers. “As the lower earners, women are the ones who usually give up their jobs to take over caregiving,” says Alina Polonskaia, a senior client partner in the CEO Succession and Enterprise Leadership practice at Korn Ferry.

But those aren’t the only reasons for the exodus. Polonskaia says specific changes in workplace culture—among them return-to-office mandates and the elimination of jobs due to AI—are disproportionately impacting women and benefitting men. To be sure, surveys show more men have returned to the office than women. Anecdotally (there is no hard evidence yet), experts say AI is impacting traditionally female-dominated roles and functions, like back-office, retail, and human-resources positions. Compounding the issue, says Polonskaia, is that “bro culture is back”: A command-and-control, authoritarian leadership style has returned to the corporate world.

The trend mirrors other data showing a slowdown in the gains women have made in recent years. After rising significantly in the early part of the decade, efforts to advance women have shown mixed results over the last two years. The percentage of newly appointed women directors has fallen since 2023, for instance, and only 17% of new CEOs of S&P 500 companies appointed last year—11 out of 64—were women. Other data shows promotions being handed out disproportionately, at a rate of 85 women for every 100 men.

Data like that is why more women are looking for alternative ways to earn income outside of the corporate world, says Kim Waller, a senior client partner in the Organizational Strategy practice at Korn Ferry. For instance, women have started nearly 50% of all new businesses in the US since the pandemic. “Women are leaving traditional corporate roles and putting their talent to work in other ways,” says Waller.

Flo Falayi, a senior client partner in the Leadership and Executive Development practice at Korn Ferry, sees a correlation between culture and the exodus of women from the workforce. He says return-to-office mandates and reduced flexibility signal to women that they won’t get the support they need from their firms and leaders. “Companies need a structural redesign of work and jobs to provide flexible hybrid support systems for women,” says Falayi.

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