Shifting gender balance at work and home?

Jobs traditionally held by men appear to be getting hit especially hard when it comes to recession-related layoffs, according to a recent story in the New York Times. So much so, in fact, that this decline in male employment—matched with the steady increase in the number of women who are employed—could result in a workforce that employs more women than men for the first time in history.

But before you focus exclusively on the relative increase in earning power held by women, consider the corresponding impact on spending influence that might now be in the hands of men. Because a recent story in Advertising Age suggests that an equal and opposite shift might be taking place at home. With a greater concentration of women in the workplace, more men are getting involved with the operation of the household, a fact that could have huge ramifications for products and services of all kinds. The essence of the Ad Age story is simple: Ignore men at your peril.

Implications: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Traditional households and traditional families don’t look all that traditional anymore.

If you’re in packaged goods, do you still assume that she’s the one doing the shopping? If you work in a business-to-business company, do you still assume he’s the one making the decisions? If you’re a retailer, is your store designed for all of your shoppers… or only those whom you used to cater to “back when?”

It is never a good time to stop assessing who your customer is… and the how’s and why’s of why those people buy. But in a climate of remarkable change like the one we’re in right now, it is even more important to consider who you’re talking to… lest you succeed at selling to someone who is no longer in charge of buying.

Mike Anderson