 | | Libby VanderPloeg |
|
"When people return to their daily demands, they easily fall back into old routines, and become frustrated and wonder why their teams don't fully cohere." |
— Tsedal Neeley, from her book "Remote Work Revolution" |
December 2019 was a banner month for women's jobs. For the first time in nearly a decade, the headlines trumpeted, women held more jobs than men. |
We didn't know it yet, but the dominoes that would unleash a pandemic were already lined up, ready to fall. |
Within months, almost every country was locked down. That meant significant upheaval for front line workers in hospitals, public transport, grocery stores and police departments, but also for employees with 9-to-5 desk jobs. |
Kitchen counters became desks. Employees — mostly mothers — started doing double duty as schools and day cares shuttered. Since February 2020, almost two million women in the U.S. have left the work force altogether in large part because of the extra burdens at home. It was a mess. |
As companies pivoted, rules about what work was and how it got done changed in an instant. What had long been deemed impossible — "I'm sorry, you cannot work at home on Fridays" — became not just possible, but also the only way forward. Slack replaced the office pantry, slippers became the home-office must-have, Zooms were de rigueur. Professionalism took on new meaning as kids barged into board meetings and board meetings took place in bathrooms. |
What became very clear was that work and personal lives were deeply connected. And a large part of that connection drove emotional well-being too. Who would have guessed that "Zoom-free Fridays" would replace "Casual Fridays"? |
But somewhere in the middle of the mess, employees figured out a groove, and many have now embraced the flexibility. According to a May survey by Morning Consult and Bloomberg News, 39 percent of 1,000 adults in the U.S. said they would quit their jobs if their employers weren't flexible about remote work as offices reopen. In many cases, remote work did not stop workers from getting things done but instead, as researchers have found, boosted productivity. |
Not surprisingly some announcements about office reopenings landed with a thud. Employees were unenthusiastic — if not downright anxious — about going back. Most companies were cautious in how they broached the issue, shying away from hard deadlines. Some said they'd allow employees to opt in to full-time remote work. |
Are hybrid offices here to stay? Will the new workplace be more equitable? Is 9-5 over? How can we make work better for everyone? |
Readers, what questions do you have as workplaces open back up? Please share them with us using this form. We will reach out to experts to answer as many as we can, and will publish the answers in the coming weeks. |
Here are four articles from The Times you may have missed. |
 | | Yasmin Tayag traps her partner in a two-handed wrist lock during a private self-defense class she organized for her Asian friends in New York.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York Times |
|
- "Self-defense is a mind-set." Some Asian women are learning new skills to protect themselves, bolstering their sense of agency, confidence and competence on the street. [Read the story]
- "We've had reports in the past and nothing has happened. What's different now?" A review found sexual harassment and online abuse pervasive in schools in Britain: The investigation, which relied on accounts from 900 students, found that sexual harassment — including sexist name-calling and requests for explicit photos — was endemic. [Read the story]
- "Men forgo time with family; women forgo career." While women seem better credentialed than men, their careers and incomes have stagnated. The careers of vets and pharmacists may serve as models that work better for America's moms, writes Nicholas Kristof. [Read in Opinion]
- "Free of hate and fear and discrimination." The Pentagon's leadership is taking steps to promote inclusion in the military, prompting a political backlash. [Read the story]
|
In Her Words is written by Alisha Haridasani Gupta and edited by Francesca Donner. Our art director is Catherine Gilmore-Barnes, and our photo editor is Judith Levitt. |
|
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home