A new working paper suggests that the power of popular weight-loss drugs may extend to the job market. In a report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Harvard economist Rebecca Diamond analyzed survey data from more than 10,000 adults and found that unemployed women who started taking GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy saw their employment rate rise 27% after 18 months, compared with similar women who wanted the drugs but hadn’t yet used them, reports Fast Company. Diamond says the effects seem tied to first impressions, not career progression: Women already employed saw little change in pay or job mobility due to their GLP-1 use.
The pattern extended to dating, with single women 29% more likely to marry or move in with a partner within 18 months after beginning to take the meds. The “depressing” study, which Business Insider reports hasn’t yet been peer reviewed, underscores long-standing evidence that weight bias shapes hiring—and raises questions about how access to GLP-1s could deepen workplace inequality. “Wealthier women who can afford GLP-1s out of pocket could stand to become wealthier in the labor and marriage markets (which have financial benefits),” the outlet notes.