Illustration courtesy of AngelinaBambin
Company Culture
The women-only coworking club the Wing, as imagined by its cofounder and CEO Audrey Gelman, was meant to be a “women’s utopia.” But according to some of the women that worked there, the Wing’s millennial pink Insta-friendly brand of corporate feminism was “a total facade” marked by elitism and abuse from management and members toward staff. NY Times
The gig economy boomed a few years ago, as droves of people turned to apps to supplement their living. But now, faced with a glut of workers, and as governments look to regulate their business, Uber (3.2 stars) and Lyft (3.2 stars) have created quota algorithms to work around pay floor regulations that have caused a “race to the bottom” that pinches wages and restricts drivers’ access to work on the apps. VICE
General Motors (3.0 stars) and Tesla (2.9 stars) are working to produce much-needed medical equipment and ventilators as the nation faces a shortage of vital supplies to treat COVID-19. USA Today
Marillyn Hewson, the CEO of Lockheed Martin (3.1 stars) , the nation’s largest defense contractor and Fortune’s #1 Most Powerful Woman two years in a row, will step down from her role in June. Fortune
Quick Hits
Life as we know it has already begun to change due to the coronavirus pandemic. People are losing their jobs or having their hours cut dramatically as non-essential businesses shutter their doors, while those who retain their jobs find themselves adapting to working from home, now with kids underfoot as most states close public schools. Women are feeling the brunt of these changes. There’s a few reasons why—firstly, women make up 62 percent of minimum and lower wage workers, especially in the service industries. These are the workers most likely to experience layoffs as those companies shut down in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. Couple this with the fact that the wage gap means those women workers had less money in savings and earned lower wages to begin with, and that’s a lot of women in dire financial straits. Women are also more likely to take on child care responsibilities now that their children are home from school, and be forced to reduce their hours and take a paycut, which could negatively affect their earning power long after the pandemic fades. Fast Company
Absorbed your limit of bad news? Honestly, us too. This piece from InHerSight’s content strategist Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza lays out the different ways you can beat those static feelings of powerlessness by pitching in to help your community. Yes—give us something, anything, to do. InHerSight
And, as you continue to hunker down to social distance, check out Scribd (3.8 stars) for some reading and listening materials. The e-book and audio subscription service normally costs money, but the company is offering 30 days of free content to make our quarantining just a little bit brighter, no credit card required. Scribd
Around the World
New Zealand: Fulfilling one of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s campaign promises, New Zealand lawmakers have voted in favor of a bill to decriminalize abortion. Under the previous law, a person seeking an abortion had to prove to a doctor that their pregnancy presented a major risk to their physical or mental health, a requirement that forced patients to lie to doctors and caused unnecessary delays and roadblocks. ABC
South Korea: Same-sex marriage remains illegal in South Korea, but although attitudes are slowly growing friendlier, couples who go abroad to marry, like Kim Kyu-jin and her partner, still face backlash when they return home. The Washington Post
Ukraine: In Ukraine, about 80 percent of railroad traffic controllers and safety officers are women. Every few days they stand sentinel for 12-hour shifts, watching over the railways in small, decorative buildings, beacons of stability and safety in the country’s otherwise tumultuous climate. Check out the full article for some wonderful photographs of these Ukranian wonder women. NY Times
