Working Parents Continue to Juggle During COVID-19

For the last few generations, Americans have painted a clear picture of “work.” The picture is of an office, a desk, perhaps a time clock, noting productivity from 9 am to 5 pm. There are lines of clothing designed for people in office spaces. There is a presumed lunch “hour” nodding to the time employers, and unions agreed for mid-day eating. We have weekends, the ultimate space flanking the other five days of the week for rest and social time.

Our communities are built around this model. The school day accommodates this schedule for parents. Restaurants capitalize on happy hour, a social time in the hour after the workday, to connect with colleagues and friends. Myriad movies and television shows depict working life in America, sometimes comically and sometimes just as the setting of the story.

But after two years of navigating a global pandemic, this scene of work-life in America has changed. And you know who has been impacted most? Our workforce parents.

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Have you scrolled through the headlines lately? You are likely to find headlines around the increase in the share of working parents struggling to handle childcare responsibilities and balance work.

According to the Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2020, “About half of employed parents with children younger than 12 in the household (52 percent) say it has been difficult to handle childcare responsibilities during the coronavirus outbreak, up from 38 percent who said this in March 2020.”

As 2022 kicks off, we are compelled to direct our attention to our American workers, who are also parents. The disruptions of COVID-19 are invasive, infuriating, and burning out our workforce faster than any variant can capture the media’s attention. And employers, take note! You need to adapt if you want to retain your employees.

Nearly two years ago, community after community scrambled to implement ways to keep their people safe and continue business operations to prevent an economic collapse. To adapt, we learned how to connect with our colleagues, provide our services, and leverage resources virtually.

This transition was so uncomfortable then, but today, as we peer over the crest of the third year, we realize the changes we made to the work we do are not interim remedies. The future of the American workplace is hybrid.

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Virtual work capabilities have created new job opportunities, amplified flexibility for families, increased productivity and eliminated lengthy commutes.

Remote work has expanded talent pools as individuals apply to jobs in different states and countries, allowing businesses to compete for more globally talented employees and leaders. In navigating COVID, many organizations have cleared the fundamentals of how to implement an enduring mix of remote and in-person work for roles that no longer mandate employees to be on-site.

According to a recent McKinsey & Company survey, companies now expect employees to be on-site between 21 and 80 percent of the time, or one to four days per week.

The world of hybrid work is inspiring organizations to navigate the future of the American workspace. Businesses must expand effective forms of communication productivity and reduce burnout. They must build trust with their employees, grow comfortable with telecommunications, and consider the possibilities of their return on investments if their employees are able to engage with each other and organization from a space that more directly, intentionally, and individually serves their circumstances.

Your workforce – your parents of children in schools and daycare – will feel empowered by these progressive and courageous changes. As schools and daycares fumble responses to exposures, closures, and staffing challenges, you, as the employers, can provide stability in your flexibility, trusting your parent-employees to feel they truly can put their families first. In doing this, you will foster a ferocious loyalty, reinvigoration, and a commitment to your organization that only a parent with someone in their corner could muster.

When the pandemic moved organizations to remote work, they scaled up new forms of communication. Platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meets allow employees to work effectively remotely. The days of popping into an employee’s office have been replaced by a quick “Teams chat” or stopping by a Zoom meeting space. This allows employees to stay connected and productive even if they aren't in the office, and it is proving to be effective at supporting the working professional.

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Think about this in concert with the articles: As parents struggle with support in the forms of daycare and school disruptions, they may need to work on projects and answer emails in the early morning, after bedtime, or during a nap. Employees who have the option to attend a meeting virtually may be listening intently and taking notes but with their camera off and while changing a diaper or making lunch.

Multitasking is the new reality, and if employers celebrate this skill as a pillar in their office culture, the U.S. Department of Labor statistics on working moms might tell a different story in a year or two, a story that bridges equity gaps and celebrates the strength of its workforce.

As the pandemic stretches into its second year, employee fatigue and burnout have increased. As organizations are moving toward hybrid work, the issue of burnout is much more prevalent than in years past. In a recent survey by Indeed.com, more than half (52 percent) of respondents feel burned out, and more than two-thirds (67 percent) believe the feeling has deteriorated throughout the pandemic. Those who are working virtually report higher rates of burnout at (38 percent) with those on-site who report a (28 percent).

The World Health Organization added burnout as an occupational phenomenon in 2019. Many employers are now taking this issue much more seriously as they prepare to move permanently into remote work. The social components of work create a culture of care at an organization.

There’s something to be said about stopping by a colleague’s workspace to talk about something other than the project you are working on. This research is critical in designing future work arrangements, and both employers and employees should take note. Hybrid, allowing for both in-person work and regular telework, might very well help us shift our historical understanding of the Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm work week.

Hybrid well-being is essential to a successful remote work environment and is critical in retaining parent employees. To counter burnout and support families, organizations can set a healthier work environment by creating more flexibility in scheduling and deadlines, encouraging breaks that prioritize family, encouraging time off, and creating safe spaces by prioritizing employees’ mental health, fully recognizing that parenting during COVID-19 has been absurd.

Investing in employee well-being will help support workers, reduce burnout, and increase business productivity.