Before the Covid pandemic erupted, Brooks McCoy made $103,000 a year as a regional director for a commercial cleaning franchise in North Carolina. After being laid off last March, the mother of two resorted to selling Pampered Chef cookware to friends of friends. In August, after months of looking, she found a full-time job selling copiers and printers to businesses.
The company has given her the childcare flexibility she needs now, letting her work from home when her two daughters don’t have in-person school. But it pays $40,000 a year.
“I made that coming out of college,” says Ms. McCoy, 40 years old. She hasn’t been able to get a better-paying job.
After a brutal year of layoffs, parenting struggles, and juggling jobs and schooling under one roof, many working mothers are trying to regain their career momentum—and hitting new obstacles.
Some are finding it difficult to land jobs with the same level of status and pay they had before. Others, bruised by pandemic childcare disruptions, say they need jobs that offer greater flexibility going forward.
