remote work – Mummy To Twins Plus One

The global pandemic has made us all rethink everything! Yes, everything….

Our jobs.

Where we live.

Our lives.

Our relationships.

And what makes us happy

and what would we rather be doing.

There have been so many articles about the “great resignation”, some have called it the great reshuffle, and I personally feel it is the great realignment.

Although the COVID pandemic has been horrendous, horrible and devastating to so many people worldwide. It has finally made businesses see that employees can truly work remotely and function just as well as if they are in the office.

For years there has been the capability and technology to allow for remote work, for years organisations have told us their propaganda and spouted how flexible and family friendly they are. Join us and see how we embrace flexible working, however if you really wanted to have a fully remote or more flexible role in the past this was frowned upon. Maybe it would have happened for long term employees? Maybe it happened for the executive team but not for many in other roles, even though many roles are all computer based and not client facing, companies still demand you front up at an office for face-to-face working.

I do admit that being in the office and having some time with actual people is good but being able to work from home is ideal in my book.

The problem with the world before was that the promise of the carrot, yes, the idea of flexibility that really wasn’t flexible.

If it was never offered at your work, there was always a reason. You just started at the company, we need you in the office, it is good for morale and so on to have people all together. And so, it went on.

Many roles that I applied for had the promise of working from home, and were all computer based and not client facing. Yes, all these jobs can be done online, and you guessed it, you had to travel to be in the office to do a job that can also be done from home very effectively.

As a mother to three kids I need flexible options. I also don’t live in the middle of the city. Yep, I do love to travel (Travel when I’m going somewhere amazing like a beach holiday, or somewhere overseas is what I long for when I think of travel), but to waste travel every day when I can maximise my time working from home is ideal, and what I need in my life at the moment.

I find it sad that it took a worldwide health crisis to make workplaces embrace the idea of working remotely.

One saying that has been popular online is that “We expect women to work like they don’t have children and raise children as if they don’t work”. I cannot wear all the hats I am supposed to at all times. Why is it that during the pandemic that women were the ones that were greatly affected with employment? It is interesting that women are still the ones that suffer the most in a crisis…just sad really.

So, getting back to the “great reshuffle” or what the world should be like for the world of work.

With so many people able to finally embrace remote work they have relooked at where they are living. Why not move to the beach? Why not move to the country? You can now! If you were living on a yacht and had internet you could sail around the world and still work, it is up to you.

It has become clear that we need to have a real focus on our mental health, lifestyle and have more time with family. The last few years we have been all working hard, been super stressed and in desperate need of a holiday and down time.

However, for many a break or even a holiday is a far-off dream or wish. So many have been unemployed due to the pandemic and in turn had to put bills on hold and were lucky if they kept their mortgage paid or if renting had to move in with family or friends. It has been a hard and tough financial road and for many they are working extra jobs to get back on track and pay back the bills that have been piling up.

Now with restrictions easing, borders slowly opening, offices opening, and businesses welcoming customers back Australia is getting back to some sort of normal, although with QR code check ins, social distancing and some mask wearing.

With the hope of life getting back to a new normal many are finally now rethinking what they truly want out of life?

Does this job give me joy? Yes, we are Marie Kondoing our jobs. Does where I live allow me to do what I want? Does it make me happy?

With the fact that many are working remotely you are not tied to an area, in fact you could be working anywhere that has internet access. We are now really looking at what is beneficial for us as individuals and the family too.

On employment sites I have noticed that many advertisements are listing that the role is ‘on site’, many of these jobs can still be done remotely and have a day or two in the office, if needed, but 100% can be done from your office at home.

I wonder how many are not applying for these roles that say must be ‘on site.’ It has been called an employee market at the moment and companies not embracing remote work and making it a part of their business will lose out on talented employees.

One candidate I spoke to said that she interviewed for a content marketing role and the very young HR recruiter said, “With a young family would you be able to do your job while working from home”. Geez! Talk about already making your mind up about a person and her situation. This person has had years of experience working from home and it wasn’t an issue and said as much. However, with these glam young things (who I’m sure don’t have children and have no idea of what it takes to work and be a parent) making decisions about women who do have a family and a job is disgusting. I thought that in 2021 people where not supposed to do this and especially from a young woman as well. This example is really making the case for the business to force the employee into physically coming into the office.

Personally, why would you want to not have a flexible work life, why would you not want to be available to your children, why would you want all the stress from commuting all the time. There are better ways, and these have been proven in the last two years.

Remote work and flexibility need to be embraced and adopted by all businesses to allow people to have a life and also a job. Rather simple really.

I feel that many will not want to be told to be in an office after working remotely for so long. You cannot say that it hasn’t worked…this used to be the excuse before, we cannot do it and the structure is not set up for working from home…NOT ANYMORE!

So why do I think the current issue with the workforce is the “great realignment”

The “great realignment” is getting us all to how things should be. Value our family, value our friends, value our health and lives more rather than work non-stop and burn out. The focus before was all about being physically present to do work, but we have all seen that even if we are not psychically present at an office the work gets done.

Things still happen and the wheels are still turning. This realignment is something that I think we need to factor into all corporations to make sure that we are not falling back to old ways and demanding that everyone turns up to be marked off a roll at work. Investing in people and prioritising ways we can be more flexible and lifestyle friendly is what is needed to attract the bright and talented staff to any future company.

Remote working is not just for younger workers. Mature age and older workers want more freedoms too. I think in the years to come there will be a dramatic shift away from organisations that are not willing to offer remote work options to their employees. Those that don’t offer this flexibility will find it tough to recruit staff, especially if they are not open to what it means to be a working parent.

What do you think would happen if we all decided to not accept jobs if they don’t offer flexibility and work from home options?

I do understand some jobs need us to be there to do the job. However, for these roles we could factor in more down time, more RDO’s, help with care if you have kids or family that needs assistance, and of course support for further training and education pathways.

With different strains of COVID continuing to happen we need to make sure that we are set up to continue to work remotely no matter what the situation, we can keep on going.

Are you an advocate for keeping this flexibility in your work? Do you work from home and love it?

What do you think about all the job ads that are saying you must be ‘on site’ for roles that are computer based?

Let us know your thoughts, and send in a comment to this blog post.

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Reflections on 2020

2020 has been a test for everyone.

Every time I turn on the TV every station says, “It’s a year like no other” and “We are all in this together” This is nice to know but I am rather over hearing these phrases.

Oh deer what a year! We can all agree 2020 wasn’t a great year.

My 2020 started when we were in the midst of constant bushfires and we watched the fires near me app more than our television. The fires in the Blue Mountains had actually started in about September or possibly earlier in 2019 so we had about five months of constant fires, sirens, smoke and living with a go bag packed just in case.

When the winds changed near the end of 2019 the residents of the city of Sydney were whinging about having smoke in there backyard and having the constant smell of smoke. I know it was hard for them, but have a thought for us and others that were living this every day for months on end. No one seemed to worry if we had smoke where we lived but as soon as it blows into someone’s fancy penthouse or apartment it is national news story. Oh well there is my whinge about that issue.

Just before Christmas 2019 we were planning on visiting family but decided to leave a day earlier as they were closing the road going to Sydney and had already closed the road to Mudgee and beyond. Yep, where I live there is one road in and one road out… so if they are closed and the emergency department says ti is to late to leave you are stuck with no where to go. We thought it best to go while the road was still open and as we have 3 young children cannot just make quick decisions for all. We were lucky our place wasn’t burnt down and still in one piece, however there were burnt leaves that were still on fire flying into our yard, black ash over everything and heavy smoke and a red fire sun on our return in 2020.

Fireworks has been cancelled nearly everywhere. Sydney cancelled the 9pm fireworks and has told people to watch on the TV for the 12pm fireworks.

We thought that if we could only just get through the fires we would all be okay. Have the public holidays in January, get jobs and move on from there.

The fires were not the only thing that happened to our local community. We had floods and weeks and weeks of heavy rain that caused a lot of damage. Again, we were lucky to escape this damage on our property but we knew others that didn’t have such luck. Many had trees come down on roofs and one had a tree land on a car (the only plus here was that they were not in it at the time).

Many job applications later and nothing from anyone. It was all okay we thought, it is just the fact that it is just after the holidays. More job applications and many people who finally spoke to us said they were putting jobs on hold. At the time we were not sure why, but thought that it might be due to budgets.

Fast forward to March 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic had hit Australia, we were on the brink of a full shutdown, border closures, and schools telling parents that if you were not an essential worker then you will need to home school your child or children. We were not considered essential workers and this then meant that all three kids were home with us doing school work all the while I was trying to do some paid work. This as you imagine was very hard.

Homeschooling only lasted for about four months, I do know that other countries have had nearly a whole year of having kids at home learning. I am very happy that we didn’t have longer with all three kids at home, it was very testing to say the least….many swear words and more were uttered due to the horrible circumstances.

With the second wave that happened in Melbourne and Sydney suddenly facing more infctions everywhere, well it seems everywhere but it has been a little over a hundred new infections currently. Although it seems low the powers that be have cracked down hard due to the fact that the virus can spread quickly and infect many in a short space of time.

I was hoping that on the last day of the year that we would be in a better position, however, borders are closed to everyone from New South Wales, wearing masks is now said should be mandatory and we need to make sure to only have 5 people visit our home which includes kids and adults.

I’m very grateful to have a contract that is bringing money into the household and has made Christmas and life a little bit easier. It is nice to be working again in the corporate world, although I do miss some fun things with the kids. In a year where we desperately needed someone to work I have taken on that role to give us all a helping hand.

My relatives in the UK are having a much harder time. A full shutdown is happening and a mutation of the virus is so much more infectious. More people are in hospital and intensive care since April, and thousands and thousands are getting infected each day and sadly dying. Over 40,000 people tested positive during the last seven days in the UK. (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55494800)

I also feel for everyone in America as the numbers for infections are enormous. I must say that I feel very happy to be in a country that doesn’t tie your health care and other help to your job. In a crisis, you can lose your job and then all other benefits and assistance dry up.

2020 showed the world and big corporates that people can work from home and still do their jobs. Remote working isn’t a thing to flash in front of prospective staff or exisiting ones to hopefully keep them on or interested, it is something that actually works and remote staff have been shown to be highly engaged, do more work and yes, get more shit done!

As a mum and a person who would love more flexibility with her work life having businesses have remote roles are fantastic. I also don’t think they can go back now to saying that they cannot offer this. It is not just the young things that are working away that want to be flexible or have a remote schedule, no matter your age, where you are in life, having a flexible work life is a great thing to have and to strive for. 2020 has shown us that this can happen, it is not a new concept and one that I have always been promised at every place I have worked and yet it never ever happened or materialized until now.

See how a crisis makes things happen, sad don’t you think!

I hope that big business continues offering remote and flexible work to people. It has been proven it works and can be done, oh and it is cheaper to not have a dedicated desk for someone…. see it can have its benefits for both parties.

Being with family more this year has meant that we have spent more quality time together, and sometimes this time has been annoying. If you are a family of five and you cannot escape due to restrictions you have nowhere to go…I was keen to go to the library earlier in the year but it was closed, although now open.

I wish people wouldn’t panic over toilet paper

And don’t get me started on the stupid panic buying of toilet paper that has happened again. Yes, more idiots are stockpiling toilet paper due to new infections. I recently went to get some toilet paper to find that the aisle has yet again been emptied by people who are making sure they can go to the toilet with massive amounts of paper they are hoarding! I don’t understand why this is happening and still a thing. If you were worried about not leaving your house, wouldn’t buy bread, milk, and canned goods?

With 2021 nearly upon us I find it is a time to reflect on how lucky and grateful I am. I am very grateful for the house we live in, although it is not perfect and I want to fix so many things, it is ours, and it keeps us safe. I am grateful that we have all stayed healthy and not got the virus, I am grateful for the help we have had from the government to help us out when we had nothing and I am grateful for getting a job just before Christmas.

I did have big plans for 2020 but like everyone they didn’t occur due to the world health crisis, no money, no job, and then no way to travel. My big plans are waiting until things get better and some of my other big plans are going to happen next year in 2021.

I hope you and your family are well and safe. This year was horrible for all and I know that many are still suffering. I hope that things improve and 2021 brings you more of what you want.

Maybe Happy New Year is not what we should be saying…maybe we should be saying we survived, and we can do anything in 2021 after this year.

What are your thoughts on 2020? How did you cope during the pandemic and the economic crisis?