Where Young Women Earn More Than Men | Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Balancing Act | Get Ready For ‘Lunchflation’

Plus: Five Years After #MeToo, NDAs Are Still Silencing Victims

Happy JOLTS day, everyone. Quit rates are still high. Read on for your Tuesday morning Slapgate-free zone. This week in Forbes Careers:

–Where the gender pay gap is inverted for young women

–The needle Ketanji Brown Jackson had to thread in her confirmation hearings

–Spring cleaning for your career

As Women’s History Month comes to a close, and we move past Equal Pay Day, here’s some encouraging news: In 22 metro areas—more than three times as many as there were two decades ago—young women are making the same, or more, than their young male peers. Yes, the gender pay gap still exists, even for women under 30. But there are small but positive signs it is slowly narrowing for young women, whether due to education gains, new pay transparency laws or demands from Gen-Z workers.

A new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data finds that nationally, the median woman under 30 who works full time earns 93% of what her male peers make. Yet in 22 of 250 U.S. metropolitan areas, which include big metropolises like New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, young women now make between 100% and 120% of what their male counterparts earn. The dubious distinction of having the widest gap (67%) goes to Elkhart, Indiana, known as the “RV Capital of the World.” Meanwhile, Wenatchee, Washington, known as the “Apple Capital of the World” has the most favorable gap for women, at 120%. (I have no idea why, but plan to make apple pie tonight to celebrate.)

What’s driving it isn’t totally clear: Pew senior researcher Richard Fry suggests the correlation between higher education attainment and cities at or near parity is a likely cause. I’m intrigued by what role state efforts to ban salary history questions and push for stronger pay transparency laws could be playing, making it harder and harder for employers to avoid paying women equally. And some pay experts point to young women talking about what they make as a likely help. “Gen-Z talks,” one told me for this week’s story. “They talk to each other about pay. They create lists. They contribute to Glassdoor. They talk about it on Slack.” Tell me: Do you? If not, what would make you share your salary with colleagues? And do you expect your employer to do the same?

Work Smarter

Saying no is a skill. How setting boundaries can help you build your career

Your career needs spring cleaning, too. Here are the 10 best things to discard as you purge what’s no longer useful. 

High stress interview coming up? Here’s what you can learn from Ketanji Brown Jackson. 

How to avoid taking a job where you don't fit the company's culture

The fluffy language you need to eliminate from your job interview

On Our Agenda

The Great Resignation continues, but some see signs of leveling off: Tuesday’s report from the government found that in February, there were 11.3 million job openings and Americans continued switching jobs at high rates, with 4.4 million workers voluntarily leaving or changing their positions. But some reports, including this one that includes data from March from Gusto, a payroll platform for small and medium-sized businesses, suggest quits are getting closer to levels seen before the Great Resignation.

Meeting AI: Dealing with Zoom meeting overload? A new product from Clockwise that launched Tuesday helps people schedule external meetings by providing a link that doesn’t just look at when you’re available, but uses artificial intelligence and user preferences to find the best time to hold disruptive meetings.

The end of cover letters? Everyone hates writing them. Some people are even refusing to do so. The Wall Street Journal reports on how some job hunters are taking a stand, and saying “no way” to writing the dreaded introductory letters.

Every inch counts: The global supply chain mess isn’t over, and business leaders are running out of ideas for how to cram more goods into shipping containers. CEOs who spoke with Forbes say they’re struggling with high shipping costs, port fees and a shortage of truck drivers.

Bring extra lunch money. Your lunchtime salad is going to cost a lot more when you go back to the office, reports the Wall Street Journal. Data from Square shows salad prices are up 11% since last March, wraps are up 18% and burgers cost an average 8% more.

Book Club

Two years into the pandemic, everyone knows what “decision fatigue” feels like. Should I let my team keep working remotely? Should I require vaccinations? Should I raise prices? Can my 10-year-old have a sleepover? In Difficult Decisions: How Leaders Make the Right Call with Insight, Integrity, and Empathy, YSC Consulting CEO Eric Pliner, who is also a contributor to Forbes, offers examples from top leaders and a framework for thinking about decisions at a time when we have to make so many. 

Key quote: “Given the sheer number of difficult decisions that leaders have to make every day, the pace required of that decision-making, and the seemingly higher and higher stakes of those decisions, clarifying an approach by design rather than by default leaves us more ready to deal with challenges we’ve never encountered previously.”

Recommendations
From Beyond The Newsroom