Whether you have one kid or five, managing a family's schedule can feel like a constant tightrope, and the ball could be dropped at any moment.
This is especially prevalent during the holidays when schools are closed and parents have to shuttle children between camp and daycare so they can work full time.
Additionally, single parents often have more restrictive schedules, making it more difficult to strike a good balance between work and home life, even if they manage to come to a good co-parenting agreement.
Three jobs you can apply for
- Director of Policy Office, Association of Computer Machinery, Washington State (ACM)
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actual, New Research A study found that 44 percent of single parents in the U.S. looking for a new job said they were unable to attend an interview due to scheduling conflicts because the potential employer was not flexible about changing the interview date and time.
Additionally, only 34% were offered an alternative date.
This correlates with survey findings that 68% of parents cited availability of childcare facilities as the biggest barrier to attending the interview, followed by school transport and after-school activities (16%).
Similarly, 48% of single parents admitted that they felt the need to hide their situation during the interview process.
The enemy of flexibility
Workplace flexibility has been a hot topic ever since the global pandemic four years ago led to widespread remote working, showing employers that employees could get their work done from home rather than the office.
And the benefits that remote and hybrid work has brought to employees are manifold.
Reducing the stress and impact of time typically spent commuting to an office in a city and getting more work done without being interrupted by colleagues are both appealing to workers.
2022 Report Future Forum Research has found that flexible workers are 29 percent more productive and 53 percent more focused. Having the option to work from home all or part of the week and work flexible hours to accommodate school pick-ups is a game changer for all working parents.
Yet, despite all the evidence, many employers are reducing remote work options and implementing strict RTO (return to office) obligations, causing mass turnover, especially among high achievers, women and millennials.
it is Gartner Research They found that when a strict RTO was issued, the average employee's intention to stay working for their current employer dropped by 8% – this rose to 16% among high achievers.
“Mandatory on-site work can be extremely costly to attract and retain talent, especially for high performers, women and millennials — the three employee segments that place a high value on flexibility,” said Caitlin Duffy, director of HR at Gartner. “Often, these costs far outweigh any modest benefits to employee engagement and effort.”
Add to this the new phenomenon of not promoting remote workers: Tech giant Dell told employees in March that they would be ineligible for promotions if they chose to work fully remotely, and half of its staff subsequently opted for the policy.
Similarly, in 2023, fully remote employees were 31% less likely to get promoted compared to in-person employees. Live Data Technologies Analysis Of the 2 million white-collar workers in the United States
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Opposition to the clause
but, Technology, Healthcare, and Education While there is generally more openness in offering flexibility to suit the needs of single parents, there is still a long way to go in making provisions for working parents.
When it comes to job hunting, virtual interviews and on-site childcare could help fill the gap, as Citi and Goldman Sachs have done in New York and Johnson & Johnson has done in New Jersey.
However, legal flexibility is still a long way off (if ever) and ultimately employees will need to do their own due diligence. Ruling out inflexibility at the interview stage is probably the best way to ensure that your employer shares similar values when it comes to balancing caregiving and work.
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