Work from home part-time?
I am not talking about the mom who works part-time somewhere to fulfill a part-time role. I am talking about a mom who stays at home and works part-time to fulfill part of a full-time role for next to no pay so she can fill some weird void.
I have been conversing with a gentleman lately who is also pre-launch with his company. He had been asking me about my mission. He was very excited to forward me an article from the Wall Street Journal on Stay-at-Home Moms who are filling part of full-time roles by doing the work for this role that can be done via the Internet. These particular women mentioned in the article were MBAs working for $21. an hour. $21. an hour!
Why am I upset? Well, my gentlemen friend was pretty taken aback himself. The problem is this. Moms with MBAs re-entering the workforce full-time are having a hard enough time finding jobs that pay what they deserve, meet their needs in flexible scheduling and desire to accommodate their child's schedules as well. With moms working for the same job for much less than the full-timer with the same degree would make, I hope you can see the very big problem here. The salaries will decrease as this trend gains popularity. We need to move forward not backward! What in the world is going on here. Stay home or go back to work. Don't cut the legs out from under the ones who need to or want to work full-time.
What do these trendsetting companies think of this new twist on job filling? Well it is an astounding success of course! I mean, to hire a collective group at a great discount to fill one job role with no benefits is truly the best scenario that a stockholder and budget manager could ask for.
What do the women who are being passed up for a full-time job think of this brilliant plan by Corporate America? Why don't you ask one? Women @ Work Network is a consortium of local groups geared toward helping the currently at-home mom who would like to re-enter the full-time job market. On Ramps and Detours is also a Boston-based forum and conference for the same demographic. I love their mission but I see this new trend as a knife in the tire of their new car.
Clearly my stance will be controversial to some. My appeal is to the masses. Try to see this from the point of view of those who struggle in the full-time realm. It is a great struggle, if you are one of the Stay-at-Home and yet want to work Moms you obviously don't get it. There are lots of things you can do at home or outside part-time that would utilize your skills without taking away from others. You made a choice, now stick with it.
For the article:
http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2008/05/02/stay-at-homes-moms-fill-an-executive-niche/?mod=WSJBlog
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Is The Part-Time Working Mom Really Helping?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I agree. If any of us are going to work outside the home, unless it is volunteer work, get paid what you deserve otherwise it is not worth it. I would rather stay home and go to the play ground than not get paid my worth. Thanks for bringing this up. Can you post the link to the WSJ article?
I disagree with this. I stay home, so does that mean that if I choose to do some side work at home that pays a little less that working full time would per hour, that I don't have the right to use the education and experience that I also worked so hard to get just because working mothers CHOOSE to be in the workforce?
Not only that, but maybe, just maybe if you counted in all the expenses of working outside the home, maybe those of you working in an actual office might find that by the time you count daycare, gas, lunches and wardrobe expenses, not to mention a higher tax bracket, you might be surprised to find that you make LESS hourly than those who are working from home for a few hours/week.
This is an article that I feel really attacks mothers who choose to stay home and insinuates that if they're going to stay home, they shouldn't be allowed in the workforce at all.
I'd also like to add that staying home is not all about hitting the playground. I'm involved in the community and I also use my professional/educational background to volunteer services at my church so that I can give back. I don't spend my days "playing and eating bon bons". It's bad enough to get that attitude from my husband, but to get it from another mother is very discouraging. Being home is very difficult and exhausting and there are many days that I feel going back to work would be easier on me, but this is our decision, and just as I respect the decision of mothers who choose or have to work, I expect the same in return without an attack of whether we DESERVE to want to make a little extra money, when many of us are already denying ourselves many of the luxuries we had when we were working, so that we can be home to raise our children.
I think you misunderstand where the writer is coming from. I work out of the home and volunteer, give back to my church as well. You have a point regarding the expenses from working outside of the home. I have done both; worked part-time from home in an admn capacity for $15 an hour as well as back at my main career for significantly more at four days a week, in an office. I took the lower paying job so I could stay home. Also it was lower paying because a degree or significant work experience was not needed to do the job. However if I were to work from home where my skills are significantly desired I would ask for comparable pay to those commuting to an office. Why not ask? That is all that is being said.
Post a Comment