The Caregiver Challenge: Employers Are Overlooking A Crucial Workforce Risk

ByMelissa Cummings,

Forbes Councils Member.

for Forbes Business Council

Melissa Cummings is the Chief Operating Officer at Progyny, Inc., a global women's health and family building company.

Caregiving responsibilities show up at work, regardless of whether we talk about them. It’s the employee who steps away to take a call from the doctor’s office. The manager who reschedules a meeting because their parent’s home health aide didn’t arrive. The high performer who suddenly starts missing deadlines.

For too long, employers have treated caregiving as a matter employees should solve independently and on their own time. But today, trying to balance these needs is one of the fastest-growing drivers of workforce instability. Research from Harvard Business School professor Joseph Fuller shows that while 80% of employees indicate caregiving affects their productivity, only 25% of employers recognize this fact.

As a healthcare leader, I think about efficiency, effectiveness, scalability and agility, and caregiving sits right at the center of that. When care breaks down, employees experience higher stress and strain, which leads to absenteeism, productivity dips and reduced engagement. I know all too well that addressing caregiving is both the right thing to do and one of the simplest ways to optimize employee contributions and engagement at work.

Caregiving pressure is rising.

The challenges that working caregivers face are more complex than any single demographic trend. Yes, America is aging, and elder care needs are rising rapidly. But the caregiving squeeze is no longer limited to parents or adult children. It encompasses employees who support partners with chronic conditions, children navigating medical or behavioral needs or loved ones who fluctuate between independence and crisis.

Modern caregiving isn’t a single event you prepare for. It’s an ongoing cycle that requires coordination, emotional energy and flexibility—often all at once. And despite common stereotypes, this isn't only a women’s issue. A growing number of men are caregivers, too, and many don’t feel comfortable saying so at work. A Carewell survey of 1,000 American men found that one in three respondents takes on around 22 hours of unpaid caregiving tasks a week. Of those men, a quarter said they don't disclose those responsibilities to their employer. Fear of repercussion doesn’t just harm working caregivers; it makes their reality invisible to leaders.

Legacy benefits don't work for today’s caregivers.

Unfortunately, most workplace benefits weren't built for modern caregiving. Companies designed structured, time-bound policies for single-episode life events, such as parental leave. But today's needs are often episodic, unpredictable and complex.

When organizations don’t update their support offerings, employees do what they must: reduce hours, take unplanned leave, change jobs or exit the workforce. According to Care.com's "2025 Cost of Care Report," 7% of parents left the workforce entirely due to caregiving challenges, and 13% switched jobs to find better support. Those decisions reverberate through operations by resulting in coverage gaps, slower execution and constant restaffing—often with higher costs and lower continuity.

Meanwhile, the evidence for caregiver support in the workplace is strong. According to Fuller's research, employers who offer these benefits have seen absenteeism drop by as much as 50%. Even backup care programs—often thought of as a “nice-to-have”—can be a direct stabilizer by mitigating stress around last-minute caregiving needs.

The right questions can solve this problem.

The good news is that modernizing caregiver benefits doesn’t require grand reinvention. Leaders must simply rethink how work actually gets done. Here are a few questions I believe leaders should be asking right now:

• Where do our workflows assume “always-on” availability?

• When care disruptions happen, do we have guardrails to absorb the shock?

• Is it easy for employees to find help when they need it?

• Are managers equipped to respond consistently and empathetically?

• Are we pairing flexibility with practical-access supports?

• Are we creating a space and environment to encourage recognizing and discussing caregiving demands?

Caregiving benefits are a competitive advantage you can plan for.

Caregiving has become one of the most powerful yet overlooked forces shaping workforce performance, retention and equity. The organizations that treat it as a structural workforce factor—not an individual hardship—will build something every leader wants: a more stable, engaged and future-ready workforce.

Many of your employees are likely caregivers, and more will come. It's time to determine whether you've designed support for that reality and whether you’re willing to lead with the clarity and empathy the moment requires.