#ATEEZSPACE
On this week’s World Digital Song Sales chart, Wizkid earns his third No. 1, Tems rises to the throne for the first time, Blackpink returns to the highest tier and BTS see several of their former champions find their way back to the roster after falling off not long ago. Amidst all that excitement, one of the most popular vocal acts from South Korea also scores another win, and it’s an especially important one for them.
2021 has turned out to be the biggest year yet for Ateez on the Billboard charts, at least when looking at the World Digital Song Sales ranking. The band has already placed five tunes onto the list, and with just as many months left before 2022 rolls around, there’s a good chance that sum will increase further.
Their winning streak began in March when “Fireworks (I’m The One)” and “Take Me Home” debuted on the World Digital Song Sales chart simultaneously, with the former making it all the way to No. 6 (their previously-established high point) while the latter title lifted to No. 16.
Less than one month would pass before Ateez scored another World Digital Song Sales chart hit with “Still Here,” which narrowly broke onto the list at all, as it only lifted to No. 24 on the 25-spot tally.
In June, the South Korean boy group’s “The Real” brought them back to their No. 6 peak, which is becoming something of a home for the band, as they have now seen four different tunes stall in sixth place, and none rise any higher.
On the current edition of the World Digital Song Sales chart, Ateez scores their fifth placement of the year with “Dreamers,” which opens at No. 16.
With one more win on the World Digital Song Sales chart to their credit in 2021, they beat their own record for the most hits on the weekly tally in a calendar year. Ateez first reached the World Digital Song Sales chart in 2019, and in that year they placed a quartet of tracks onto the list. They repeated that success in 2020 with four more appearances.
Ateez, Blackpink, Minzy And BTS: Hits Making Moves On The World Songs Chart
Deloitte Global’s new report, Women @ Work: A global outlook, which surveyed 5,000 women across 10 countries, shows that women’s responsibilities at work and at home have increased since the pandemic began.
These lifestyle changes and responsibilities are causing job dissatisfaction among women. Moreover, employers are not adequately providing their female employees with the policies and company culture needed to address women’s needs: Only 22% of those surveyed believe that their employers have enabled them to create clear boundaries between work and personal life; most feel they have to be “always on” at work; and 63% feel their employers evaluate them based on their time spent online rather than the quality of their output. As a result, only 39% believe their organization’s commitment to supporting them during this time has been sufficient.
“Women—especially women of color, LGBT+ women, sole parents and those with caregiving responsibilities—underwent significant additional work and home stresses during COVID-19, which most employers didn’t or couldn’t address,” says Michele Parmelee, Deloitte Global Deputy CEO and Chief People and Purpose Officer. “Many women unhappy with their current work situations are considering leaving their current employer for a more positive and supportive environment. More than half of our respondents either expect to leave their current employer within two years, or are already actively looking for work with another organization.”
However, some organizations are getting it right because they have built inclusive, high-trust cultures that offer greater programmatic support to the women in their workforce. The women who work at these organizations, identified by the survey as “gender equality leaders,” feel confident about reporting noninclusive behaviors and supported to balance work and other commitments, and they also feel that their careers are progressing as fast as they would like.
Unfortunately, these “gender equality leaders” make up a minority of organizations, representing just 4% of the total global sample surveyed in Deloitte’s report. Yet, organizations can realize myriad benefits from following the gender equality leaders’ example and building inclusive, high-trust cultures where women feel supported.
As Parmelee notes, these benefits aren’t happenstance: “Gender equality leaders take marked and deliberate steps to enable their whole workforce to thrive,” she says. “And doing so isn’t just good for the employees—it has positive ripple effects across their entire organization.”
Women who work for gender equality leaders say their organizations have responded to employees’ needs during the pandemic by establishing clear boundaries around working hours, offering paid time off and resetting work objectives so that they’re more realistic in the current environment.
The survey also found that gender equality leaders are more than twice as likely as lagging organizations—31% of the global sample that have not demonstrated an inclusive culture—to offer formal mentoring programs for women (40% vs. 16%), to provide development opportunities for women (38% vs. 15%) and to offer support with childcare, including emergency childcare support (22% vs. 8%).
Steps To Mitigate The Pandemic’s Impact
While gender equality leaders may be in the minority today, organizations can take several actions to reverse the pandemic’s impact on working women—and reap the benefits of supporting gender equity.
“Our survey respondents are clear about what needs to be done to reverse the pandemic’s disproportionate effects on working women,” Parmelee says. Here are four recommendations to help organizations become gender equality leaders:
Prioritize work-life balance and offer flexible working options that are entrenched in the company culture, so that all employees feel they can take advantage of them.
Empower women to succeed outside of work, in order to enable success at work.
Build women’s skills and experience by offering fulfilling development opportunities.
Demonstrate a visible commitment to gender equity from leaders.“As organizations look to reopen their workplaces, those that prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion in their policies and culture, and provide tangible support for the women in their workforces, will be more resilient against future disruptions,” says Parmelee. “Additionally, they will lay the groundwork needed to propel women and gender equality forward in the workplace.”
Ateez (Hangul: 에이티즈; Japanese: エイティーズ; stylized as ATEEZ), is a South Korean boy group formed by KQ Entertainment. The group consists of eight members: Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, and Jongho. They debuted on October 24, 2018 with the extended play (EP) Treasure EP.1: All to Zero.[4] As rookies, Ateez were recipients of the Next Generation Award at the 2019 Golden Disc Awards, as well as being named Worldwide Fans’ Choice at both the 2019 and 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA). Ateez were also dubbed “4th Generation Leaders” by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, and are official global ambassadors for Korean culture and tourism, often referred to as “Global Performance Idols” by the Korean media.[5][6]
As of March 2021, Ateez has released six Korean-language EPs, one full-length album, and three Japanese albums. The releases Treasure EP.Fin: All to Action, Treasure Epilogue: Action to Answer, Zero: Fever Part.1, and Zero: Fever Part.2 have all topped South Korean album charts, with Zero: Fever Part. 1 becoming the group’s first album to be certified platinum on the Gaon Albums Chart. To date, Ateez has sold over one million physical copies of their releases in South Korea.[7][8]