I’m resurfacing my very first newsletter on this platform that was exactly one year ago today. And I’m doing it for a reason.
For Black History Month in the US, the trend tends to be we spend 28 days doing a deep dive into Black creators, highlighting Black employees in social media, talking about historic Black leaders, etc. It’s all appreciated. Except it’s usually held to one month. And it’s usually under the premise that it’s our month.
As a Black woman working in corporate spaces, I have to tell you that this month is really for people who aren’t Black. We know our history for the most part. We know our pain points. We also know sometimes our history is separate from American History. So really Black History is American History. So really we should be talking about all of this all year round.
And we should be talking about context and data. We still look for ourselves in your demographics reports that you have on your corporate pages…if you have those still. We still look for people who look like us on your leadership teams on said corporate pages. If you still have them.
And as for context, well, I love the work I did on this issue because it deals with intersectionality. We are going to go over how work evolved by generation of which many different races, genders, and ethnicities belong to. None of us are one thing.
Lastly, for this Black History Month, I still want to highlight that Black women have been the most impacted in this massive layoffs and job cuts. Where we started with over 300k in June of 2025, we are now well over that with some outlets reporting us at 600k conservatively. A few other stats:
Unemployment Rate: The unemployment rate for Black women increased from 5.1% in March 2025 to over 7% by late 2025.
Economic Impact: The departure of these women is estimated to have removed $9.2 billion from the U.S. GDP, according to Fortune analysis.
By December 2025, Black women were spending an average of 29.7 weeks, or more than seven months, unemployed — the highest rate among every group of women and among all men except for Black men, who had a slightly higher average.
So while you celebrate the accomplishments of the Black community this year, look at your systems and see what their experience has been inside your organization. That’s where the real work becomes impactful.
And that’s also what Equity Activations specializes in for helping you embed equity into your organization through workshops, trainings, and audits. We have fifty-leven ways to upgrade your efforts.
Defining Work
What is work anyway?
I got a theatre degree and I am the first in my immediate family to graduate from college. And then I got a Master’s degree. And then I got into corporate work - the first in my immediate family to even get a title like Director and then VP. Do you know how much I didn’t know? A lot. Let me back up.
My first corporate job I got during college. It was in an office. Now my mom was an Accounts Payable Clerk so I knew what an office was but I hadn’t worked in one. I didn’t know cheat codes to the words “professional,” “protocol,” or even “hierarchy.” I was an Admin Assistant and for me that was the best Work 101 job I ever had. Admins are almost like the silent project managers - people hardly knew we existed until they needed something, meanwhile we get the benefit of watching how it all works. This was invaluable to me as I finally after over 10 years as an Executive Assistant, got plucked into the Talent Acquisition field by my mentor and boss, Beverly Carmichael.
The thing nobody tells you is that there are a lot of people at work who got there in nontraditional paths. Very few HR people majored in HR. There is no real CEO school - it’s either Legal, Tech, Product, Sales or Finance. Sure there are a lot who got fast tracked but I want you to know this as well come together and remember how we got here. We are all human beings who had jobs that informed who we are along the way - some more privileged than others and some who had no idea this is where they’d end up. So many stories but we are all together here now.
This probably the longest section this resource is gonna have but we have to set up what we are gonna be talking about.
Let’s go back to the 1980s. This isn’t arbitrary because currently we have the most represented generations in the workplace we’ve ever had and if we are gonna define who’s at work, let’s start with what it looked like when our Traditionalists/Boomers/Gen X teammates were there.
The evolution of the desk from the 1990s to now-ish?
1980s: The Birth of Digital
I love the 80s gif
What happened?
Computers entered the chat. PC desktops transformed workplace efficiency and started a trend of digital transformation.
1970s had a recession so it was all about money money money. Yuppies - white young urban professionals - were aspirational classes for many. Greed was good.
The percentage of men in the US workplace was about 77% and white women were paid 64% of what white men were paid.
White workers dominated the labor force, comprising nearly 80% of the workforce at the beginning of the decade. Black workers constituted about 11-13% of the labor force. Hispanic workers represented a growing segment, accounting for approximately 6-7% of the workforce. Asian Americans made up a small but increasing portion, representing about 1.5-2% of the labor force.
The average weekly hours were 38.5 hours.
1990s: Internet Goes Boom!
90s hip hop gif
What happened?
“Welcome! You’ve got mail!” Internet has entered the chat. The ability to digitally connect globally starts a massive transformation of how we work.
Gen Xers are fully in the workforce bringing with them their desire for disruption, questioning tradition, and desire to connect meaning to work.
The rate of men in the US workplace was approximately 77% at the beginning of the decade and declined to about 74.8% by the end of the decade. At the beginning of the 1990s, white women earned approximately 71.9% of white men's wages.
In 1990, White workers comprised approximately 76% of the labor force. Black workers made up about 13% of the labor force. Hispanic workers increased their presence, reaching about 19% by the end of the decade. Asian workers represented a growing segment, constituting around 3-4% of the workforce,
The average weekly hours were 38-39 hours per week.
2000s: Tech as an Industry
Flip phone gif
What happened?
Y2K? Tech really booms and becomes a major player in the US economy. Eight of the ten fastest-growing occupations were computer-related. Manufacturing employment declined by about a third since 1990.
Shows like “The Office” center work as part of our lives. There’s a huge decline in cubicles and a rise in open-floor office plans along with the entrepreneurial tech start ups.
The labor force participation rate for men decreased from 74.8% in 2000 to 71.2% in 2010.
At the beginning of the decade (2000), white women earned approximately 73-76% of what white men earned. By 2010, women's earnings had increased to about 77-82% of men's earnings.
White workers remained the majority but their share decreased from 71% in 2000 to about 60% by 2024. Hispanic workers saw significant growth, increasing from 12% of the labor force in 2000 to over 16% by 2010. Black workers comprised about 12-13% of the labor force. Asian workers represented a growing segment, increasing from around 4% in 2000 to nearly 7% by 2024.
At the beginning of the decade (2000-2001), full-time workers averaged about 42.1 hours per week,
2010s: Startups Bring Culture to Work
Leonardo DeCaprio gif from Wolf of Wall Street
What happened?
Welcome aboard, Millennials! This generation brings an increase in the desire for work-life balance. 24% of employed persons did some work from home in 2010 and increases during that decade.
Start up culture booms! Kegs, pet-friendly offices, free food, green-friendly office environments, mental health and education stipends, tech competitive comp all on the rise with the tech boom. HR starts making the shift to “Talent” or “People.”
Male labor force participation continued to fall, reaching 69% by January 2020.
By 2019, white women's earnings increased to about 82% of white men's earnings.
White workers remained the majority but their share decreased, comprising 76.5% of the workforce by 2023. Hispanic or Latino workers represented 18.8% of the workforce by 2023. Black workers made up 12.8% of the workforce by 2023. Asian workers accounted for 6.9% of the workforce by 2023.
The average work hours in the US workplace showed some fluctuation but generally remained around 34-35 hours per week.
2020s: The Unknown of Now
Bowen Yang (who has most recently been called out for speaking on Representative Jasmine Crockett with a misinformed opinion on his podcast) GIF
What happened?
“You’re on Mute” and “BLM!” Global pandemic changes the way we work. 71% of workers whose jobs could be done from home were working remotely all or most of the time due to the pandemic. Video conferencing booms!
Larger emphasis on social justice and purpose driven work due to the Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z in the workplace. Black Lives Matter, intersectional wage gaps, climate change, and mental health all become important to workers at work.
The labor force participation rate for men is 67.9%.
In 2023, white women working full-time earned 83 cents for every dollar earned by white men.
White workers: 76.5% of the labor force. Hispanic or Latino workers: 18.8%. Black or African American workers: 12.8%. Asian workers: 6.9%.
In 2022, full-time employees worked an average of 41 hours per week
This is a lot of data but this helps us understand all of our work environments as we think about how we all work together. Are you in the work place now? What would you want to add to these stats? I want to hear from you! Shoot me a note with your additions.
The first two people get a gift card to Bookshop.org because honestly, we need to read more.
The Present of Work
Everyone talks a lot about the future of work but I don’t think we are on the same page about the present of work. What does it look like?
Are you pissed at work? It’s ok to acknowledge it. Work is a lot right now for many people for many reasons including layoffs, uncertainty, leadership not being transparent, change management, lack of promotion…the list goes on. What should you do about it?
Venting - in general it’s helpful to let it out in safe spaces and places so you can release these feelings and they don’t eat you up. Don’t let it consume you though. Like break up emails/texts - maybe write it out and don’t click send. Certainly don’t vent with people in positions of power at work. Work is a community and not a family. You can go to HR/People for resources like mental health or meditation apps that can support you. If this is a violation like harassment or anything egregious, check this article out at Vice for when to go to HR/People.
Identify the source - These questions from the Harvard Business Review might help:
What triggered my anger?
What feelings are underneath my anger? Perhaps fear or powerlessness?
What do I need to be okay right now?
What longer-term outcome would make me feel better?
What steps can I take towards that outcome?
For each of those steps, what do I risk and what do I gain?
Make decisions - Are you mad enough to leave? Can you make a plan if so instead of reacting immediately without a plan? Be strategic. Don’t let the social media influencers fool you into thinking a safety net will magically appear. It might. And it might not. So make a decision and follow through on how you will take care of you in this situation.
Happy Black History Month!
Black history is everyone’s history. Point. Blank. Period.
Artist: Bisa Butler
As consultants of all things equity, part of Equity Activation’s pillars are community and culture. So we can’t have y’all out there just quoting the same Martin Luther King, Jr speeches. We encourage you to go deeper even than slavery. Because slavery is not Black History. That’s world history. How Black people overcame slavery is Black history. So here are a few resources to dig deep into overcoming for Black History Month:
Everyone who knows me, knows how hard I go for Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson and the movie inspired by the book, Origin. So watch the movie and read the book. Here’s sweet 15 minute behind the scenes look at the making of the movie thanks to Array.
Reconstruction: The Big Lie (podcast) - Listen Civics in this country is dying by the day and it’s literally the blueprint to how we got here. We talk a lot about the end of slavery and Juneteenth (though there is a threat to not acknowledge or observe this officially this anymore) but what happened after really? One of the most progressive time periods for America and something changed.
Did you know The Great Migration lasted 60 years? Black families leaving the South to go West, Midwest, and North East for better opportunities lasted longer than most peoples’ lives. You can find out more by watching the docuseries, Great Migrations: People on The Move on PBS (donate to them if you can) hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
We are all on a journey to how to make work better together. Is there something you want to know more about or a problem you are navigating? Shoot me a note and let me know what problems you want to solve where you are. We got this.
There’s no need to let your talent problems continue. Recruiters are busy recruiting but we can solve your training challenges to ensure you are getting the best candidate assessments you need to make your business stronger.
