What do you think is the major problem... - Poll for 3rd July to 9th July, 2005

Hi all,

We have lots of ladies here among us who are working wife/mom; we also have ladies who have worked in the past and taken a break for various personal reasons. So we thought of polling this week related to working environment.

I bet each one of you would have gone through various best and bitter experiences at your work spot. So why don't you share it by casting votes based on them?

Hi,

I have experience working for a MNC. Though they recruited lots of women there was a differential treatment when it came to allocating jobs. Only routine jobs were allocated to females, while challenging jobs wer assigned to male workers.

The main reason I was given to know was - females generally come to work, few years would get married, within a year or two would have kids, so they will either go on a temporary break or quit permanently within a short duration. So assigning challenging jobs would make it difficult to transition at the time of these females quitting.

I voted competing against other co-workers not in the traditional sense. Single female workers are able to stay back, work long hours and show better output. As married ladies, it is hard to follow that. Whether we like it or not, managers compare the output of single vs married people and don't account for the fact that married people have certain difficulties that might preclude them to work late.

I voted balancing between work and home! I worked for a BPO organization, alternating between day and night shifts every 3 months. It was very difficult when did night shifts. My husband was a sales consultant and he travels a lot. Unfortunately whenever he was in town I used to get stuck in night shifts . We hardly got to meet and talk face-to-face for months together!

I thought if it keeps going like that it would become even more difficult when we plan for kids. So I finally decided to move jobs. Now my work hours are 9 - 6:30 which is good to adjust with my husband's round the clock kind of job!

I voted for the balancing aspect as that is the major concern of any working women. Of course on paper we can say that the household work is shared and balancing work and home should not be a problem. But I find this sharing quite a humbug in most of the cases, especially when it comes to taking care of children. The end result is that the women work both at home and office; at times the former more strenuous than the latter. Harrassment problems are definitely there, no doubt. But compared to the fine act of balancing between home and office, handling sexual harrassment and handling competition at office are just picnics.
The deeper problem is that women cannot take their mind off their household work. There is a basic difference between men and women at least for most of the Asian women. The man the moment he steps off his home he completely forgets it and starts thinking of office and work. But a woman even while remaining engrossed in the most complex office work, is wondering at a corner of her mind whether her son had had his food and whether her daughter had reached home safely from the computer class etc. This kind of extreme attachment to household work makes the act of balancing between home and office very difficult for women. I am not advising that women should take their mind off household work; it's only because of the mother's attachment to the home and children are great people being made.
I for one think that women are best equipped to work at home. Women software engineers are at times given permission to work from home when they are pregnant or soon after child-birth. Their productivity is normally very high during that period because being at home they no longer worry about their children or domestic chores and are able to focus sharply on the work at hand.
Anybody having a different experience may please throw light on this issue.

I voted balancing work and home, having read through the other replies, i agree about the having to work late, i work 24 hour a day standby (i have to spend my normal day at work and be there for anything that happens after/before hours, i sometimes spend up to 20 hours a day at work) for 1 week, every 5 weeks, it's terrible. Some nights, i have to decide between supper and sleep, that's how tired i get.

And yes, the mangers don't understand this, they don't have to work these hours, just today, one of the managers decided that he needed to dicsuss some stuff just about the time we finish work and it lasted more than an hour after work. He does not have to go home and cook and clean, he has that done for him, and say no and then you do not perform as well as those who will stay as long as you want, whenever you want.

Currently, Balancing work and home is my biggest problem (it's so bad, that i've put my studying on hold.)

Kind Regards,

Sharika

Dear Sharika,
My heart bleeds for you on knowing about your schedule. All along I was worrying about only those women who after having to work for 8 hours in office would have to put another two or three hours of work at home. But your case is pathetically different. 20 hours a day is beyond my imagination, Sharika. When I read the lines that at times you have to choose between supper and sleep, I even started feeling guilty. For I work far less in terms of hours and practically do no work at home.
You should start looking for another job, Sharika. Otherwise you will soon have a burnt-out feeling. Take care.
varalotti
sridhar