Looking for statistics about the number of caregivers in the workplace, you can find a wide range of percentages — from 16 percent to 73 percent! One thing the studies agree upon? This is a fast-growing employee population.

Ignore it at your peril as employee engagement and business results can benefit when employers demonstrate caring for the caregiver at work.

The caregiver role

Take AARP Research’s 2023 survey which found 53% of respondents ages 40-49 identified as caregivers of a parent, friend, partner or spouse, in-law, or another adult relative. This role had caused them to:

• Work remotely
• Change work hours
• Reduce their hours
• Use accrued sick or vacation leave
• Take temporary leave
• Use paid caregiving leave
• Quit their job altogether to provide care

In addition to the mental pressure of juggling employee responsibilities with the caregiver role, these individuals also experience physical, emotional, and financial stress. Balancing work and caregiving responsibilities can be like working multiple jobs simultaneously — and without any chance to step away or take a break.

“Caregiving is a life role that few people plan for or even expect. And, when caregiving finds you, it’s almost never convenient,” says Dr. Zachary White, co-author of the book The Unexpected Journey of Caring. The caregiver role affects all of your relationships and causes uncertainty about the future. “It affects caregivers in ways that inevitably affect how they think about their own work, their employer, and their work colleagues.”

Caregivers at work and their employers

The transition to a caregiver role and its demands in the short- and long-term can undermine effectiveness at work. Yet this trend is not slowing as America’s population ages, life expectancy lengthens, and couples have children later in life. At the same time, options for paid caregiving have grown more expensive and more limited.

Yet employees can feel reluctant to share this part of their personal lives with their places of work. “There are ripple effects of caregiving on the organization and employees,” White says. “Employees who do not feel supported will not disclose the full extent of their care needs or responsibilities, making it much more difficult for all involved — caregivers, work colleagues, and the employer — to navigate the complexities of the caregiving role within the context of employee responsibilities.”

One hurdle for employers and employees is the uncertainty around the caregiver role timeline. Human Resources policies often reflect a clear beginning and ending. Yet that predictability is a luxury a caregiver may not have, White says.

Still, identifying employer strategies for caregiver support in the workplace and scale up solutions that care for the caregivers is essential to employee wellbeing and the business success. “Creating a work environment that is supportive and inclusive for caregivers not only helps the physical and mental health of the caregivers, but it also improves organizational culture and allows employers to attract and retain top talent,” stated Dr. Jennifer Olsen, CEO of the Rosalynn Carter Institute, in releasing the RCI’s Working While Caring report. “Inaction is not an option.”

Why caregiver support matters

Organizations today can’t ignore the importance of engaging employees, cutting turnover, and improving inclusion. Supporting caregivers is part of fostering a workplace culture that respects each employee. As Michigan State University noted in its WorkLife Office communications, treating this as an “organization imperative” rather than “just a kind gesture” can help recognize “the intersection of gender, racial and ethnic diversity of unpaid caregiving roles.”

At the same time, supporting caregivers in the workplace can offer further benefits including:

• Increasing productivity
• Developing employee loyalty
• Improving employee wellbeing
• Reducing absenteeism
• Cutting healthcare costs
• Supporting inclusion efforts
• Boosting your reputation as an employer
• Growing your talent pool
• Retaining your institutional knowledge
• Creating a more harmonious workforce
• More value from caregivers at work

Researchers writing in the Harvard Business Review noted that caregivers offer unique value to companies. Through a survey of employers and employees, the Rutgers Center for Women in Business received 131 responses that they used to identify workplace skills gained from providing unpaid care.

First and foremost, those who had unpaid caregiving experiences demonstrated more empathy. Emotional intelligence, collaboration, and teamwork also got a boost from caregiving skills. As one male consulting executive who cares for his own children said, “Taking care of my three school-aged children… helped me be more empathetic with coworkers’ personal needs, [leading to] lower levels of stress and higher levels of trust within my teams.”

But the skills gained through caregiving weren’t only related to interpersonal relationships. The authors also identified several skills that they grouped under productivity: efficiency, tenacity/persistence, and patience. They also saw a correlation between caregiving and improved task prioritization, decision making, flexibility, and more.

Ultimately, they observed, many of the workplace skills gained by caregivers are often seen as “soft” skills. Yet, they were also the traits needed for effective leadership as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation change the workforce. They wrote, “These management skills are not often developed through on-the-job training, corporate coaching, and skills workshops — they’re developed largely in our personal relationships, and further honed through our experience as caregivers.”

Supporting caregivers in the workplace

In the wake of the pandemic, we’ve already seen the Great Resignation and quiet quitting, and employers looking to combat career burnout. Showing care for the caregiver at work can make life better both for employers and employees. Our next article in this series shares concrete strategies for developing support systems for working caregivers.

Want to get a better sense of the caregiving challenges your colleagues face? Work with Sogolytics to craft a survey that gets to the heart of the issue. Contact us today or get started with a free trial!