"The great reimagination of work"
 CLOSING THE GAP Tuesday, October 12, 2021 
Now that we're 18 months into the Covid pandemic and entering a kind of new normal, my colleagues and I at Closing the Gap wanted to understand just how much men's and women's attitudes about their jobs and what they wanted for their careers had changed. So we teamed up with Catalyst, a nonprofit focused on advancing women in the workplace, on a study titled "The Great Work/Life Divide: How employee desire for flexibility and employer concern is driving the future of work."
What we found was striking, and a warning for corporate America.
The big headline: More than half of employed American parents and 41% of employed Americans are considering leaving their jobs due to their employer's lack of concern for their well-being. We had expected meaningful differences between men and women, but the resounding call for change across genders was striking. And the reasons for people wanting to quit were perhaps not surprising, a sign of a need for change. "It is a bit surprising that it was equal," says Catalyst CEO Lorraine Hariton, "because it actually shows that the men had more empathy, in a sense for the situation."
The study also revealed a stark disconnect between what employees want and what their employers tell them they expect. About three-quarters of employed Americans say their company believes employees are more innovative and work harder when they're in the office. But more than 75% of employed people said if it was up to them, they'd like their work to be permanently flexible.
"People are really leaning into flexibility. Whether that's flexibility by location, by when they work, how they work. They want to leave if the employer is not providing that," says Hariton. "I think of this as the great reimagination of work, especially for office workers. Seventy-five percent of employees want to have flexible options going forward. And companies really have to respond to that."
Still, there were notable differences between men and women, both in their perspectives and in the actions they plan to take. Employed men are much more likely than employed women (50% to 30%) to say they're considering leaving their job because their company has not cared about their concerns during the pandemic.
And looking beyond just quitting, men are more likely than women to say they intend to make career changes — such as switching jobs within a company — and are far more likely than women to say they're going to ask for a raise. There's another untold gender divide story: employed dads are far more likely than employed moms to say their employer has improved child-care support since last year (74% to 43%).
"We are really in a time to really reinvent work, and to create a more equitable, inclusive and fulfilling workplace for everyone," Hariton told me. "We have an opportunity to use technology and use what we've gotten from the pandemic to really change the nature of work and make it a better life for everyone."
Are you considering making a change in your career? If so, what shifts are you making and why? Share your thoughts with us at askmakeit@cnbc.com.  More articles from Closing the Gap This 24-year-old dropped out of Columbia to build a $140 million underwear brand When Cami Téllez co-founded underwear brand Parade, she was an undergraduate at Columbia. Now at 24, Téllez is CEO of the company worth $140 million. Make It reporter Morgan Smith talked with Téllez about building the business and how her vision for an inclusive underwear brand was "fundamentally shaped" by her identity as the daughter of Colombian immigrants. Alicia Guevara, first Black and Latina CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC, on being an 'only': 'There was no blueprint for my leadership' Alicia Guevara is the first woman and first Black and Latina CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, a youth mentoring organization that currently serves over 5,000 young people. Guevara spoke with Make It's Jennifer Liu on how to find a mentor at work, her best career advice and why her leadership position "should be an expectation." The self-help book that helped Simone Biles deal with criticism after the Olympics In a recent profile, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles shared how Mark Manson's book "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" helped her shift her mindset, set healthy boundaries and deal with criticism after the Tokyo Olympics.
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