Good morning.
By now, we all know the burden of the pandemic fell harder on women than on men. Women make up the majority of frontline workers in deeply-affected industries like retail, food service, hospitality and health care, and also picked up a disproportionate share of the additional loads of schoolwork, housework and elderly care.
But since today is International Women’s Day, it’s worth noting the hit goes further up the food chain. An IBM study on women and leadership, released this morning, found that women on corporate boards and in C-suites around the world have made no progress since 2019, when IBM did its first study on the subject.
Despite a heavy push for diversity—and mandates in a growing list of countries including Spain, Norway, France, Iceland and Germany—the number of women on executive boards stayed stuck at 8%, and the number of women in C-Suites remained at 10%. Moreover, the data suggests that the pipeline of women to fill those high-level spots has actually shrunk. Fewer women hold senior vice president, vice president, director and manager roles in 2021 than in 2019.
“This problem is a long way from being solved,” IBM SVP Bridget van Kralingen—the lead author of the study—told me. “We are backsliding. If you are a CEO, you’ve got to get serious about this.” Among the solutions, she says, are better on-ramps for women returning to work, more flexible working arrangements, gender-blind hiring, and more childcare support. And “sponsorship” is critical: only 30% of junior female managers had sponsors or mentors—in part because there are so few senior women to play the role. Van Kralingen has written a compelling commentary based on the report that you can read on Fortune.com this morning here.
Separately, Fortune is teaming up with the Giffords organization to host a working session on what business can do to combat gun violence—which spiked during the pandemic. Among the CEOs joining the conversation will be Michael Dowling of Northwell Health and Kenneth Cole of, hmm, Kenneth Cole. The session is at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday. You can register here.
More news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
Microsoft attack
The European Banking Authority is one of the latest victims as an attack on Microsoft's business email software continues to expand, with 60,000 known victims now affected, many of them small or medium-sized businesses. Microsoft has said the attack began with a Chinese government-backed hacking group. Fortune
Pandemic relief
The COVID-19 relief bill is facing what is expected to be another close vote as early as this Tuesday, after the $1.9 trillion bill passed in a tense vote in the Senate on Saturday. The bill, if passed, would include a notable policy shift: essentially, a guaranteed income for families with children. New York Times
Oil above $70
Oil is back above $70/barrel—its highest level in more than 14 months—pushed by a prominent pre-pandemic theme: strikes on production in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government said that a drone attacked a storage tank at one of the largest ports in the world on Sunday morning. It didn't damage production or result in casualties, but it seemed to add momentum to an oil price rise that was already gaining ground. Fortune
GE Deal
General Electric is nearing a deal to combine its aircraft leasing unit, known as Gecas, with Ireland's AerCap Holdings, according to the WSJ. The deal, if it goes through on Monday, is expected to have a $30 billion valuation. Gecas, with 1,600 aircraft, is one of the world's largest air-leasing businesses, but the last year has been punishing for the aviation industry. Wall Street Journal
AROUND THE WATER COOLER
Vaccine nations
The benefits of a quick vaccine roll-out are paying off. In Israel and the U.K., two of the fastest movers, restrictions are being eased. Nearly half the population of Israel holds a "green pass" that shows they've been vaccinated—allowing them special access to eat (gasp!) inside. Meanwhile, in the U.K.—where a third of the population has now received at least one shot—schools are reopening on Monday for in-person learning after months of remote schooling, a first step in the loosening of restrictions after months of nationwide lockdown. The Times
Housing Explosion
Demand for expensive homes is on fire—even keeping pace with the race for houses on the lower end of the spectrum, Fortune's Shawn Tully writes. "Affluent Americans who used to shop for move-up manses where they live and work no longer need to commute to an office complex and can work from anywhere." Fortune
Talk to your kids
The legendary investor John W. Rogers Jr., founder of Ariel Capital, is following an example set by his own father when he was a pre-teen: he's talking to his daughter about investing, writes Fortune's Lee Clifford. For Rogers, this is about tackling the investing gap early between white and Black Americans, with 55% of Black Americans, versus 71% of white Americans, reporting stock market investments. Fortune
Credit card rewards
An experimental physicist concocted what he said was an experiment to find out if he could exploit the lower fees on gift cards and money orders. The IRS, however, said the $300,000 he made was taxable income—sending the battle to court. Wall Street Journal
This edition of CEO Daily was edited by Katherine Dunn.
