There May Also Be A Silver Lining When The Pandemic Is Over
The Covid-19 pandemic is putting working women with children in a tough position. Layoffs and home schooling very suddenly induced tremendous anxiety in working moms. Some have taken leave from their jobs or quit all together to stay home with their young children. Schools and daycare centers are closed or only open at partial capacity. Working moms have become school teachers in addition to handling a lot of the household duties and child care.
The US economy has started to open up. Per the New York Times the pandemic and the challenges that come with may hurt a woman’s career. Betsey Stevenson of University of Michigan told the newspaper, “We could have an entire generation of women who are hurt. They may spend a significant amount of time out of the work force, or their careers could just peter out in terms of promotions.” Once you are out of the work force it can be hard to get back to work. Depending how long you are out of work your skills might become outdated. Employers may hire employees they can pay less and clients may be lost. These things may add it to loss of status I your company or a chance at a promotion.
Moms who are able to work from home during stay in place orders often adjusted their work hours to care for their children. Jonalyn Suplito decided to ask for a schedule change to better accommodate her situation at home. Jonalyn works full time at home for a larger retailer as a customer service associate. Her days off are during the week when her son has school. She spends her free time before work and her days away from work helping her son with virtual learning and home work. Jonalyn gets it all done because she is great with time management. If Jonalyn’s request for a schedule change is granted she will have her weekends free. She would have a break from home schooling to have quality time with her family and catch up on house hold chores. Jonalyn is a hero without a cape.On a positive note Jonalyn says she gets a lot of help from her husband. He was laid off from his job and is home to help with their son household duties. Jonalyn feels she is lucky to have her husband’s support. There are a lot of women working and caring for their children alone. Also, Jonalyn is glad for the extra time she would be commuting to bond with her family. Also, by accommodating working moms to work from home and adjust their schedules, companies will realize that being flexible with employee’s work-life balance will be good for business. The company will retain experienced employees and not have the cost of hiring and training new staff.
