Balancing IT Careers and Family Life: How Can HR Support Women in the Industry?

Hi,

Today, women employees in the IT field are compelled to make a decision. At one point in time or another, they are required to take on family responsibilities and potentially sacrifice a bright career, or pursue their career and sacrifice their family life. What is the remedy for this? Can there be an HR environment that can support women employees in different levels of the IT industry to balance their family responsibilities as well?

With regards,
Mani

Hi Mani,

Nice point to discuss. Yes, it is very difficult for individuals to choose between family and profession. However, the majority of female employees tend to choose family.

In my opinion, the following remedies could be considered:
- Flexi working hours
- Work from Home
- Child care facility in the office
- Re-employment after a break

Regards,
Seema

Yes, true. I myself am going through the same situation. I will be taking maternity leave soon and have no other option but to resign, as I don't have any support system at home. We are a nuclear family, and I can't imagine leaving the baby with a maid.

I am wondering if there are any ideal employers out there who can provide work-from-home opportunities or have daycare facilities at the office. Do these types of employers exist? I understand that it may not make much sense for employers to go to such lengths, as it requires infrastructure and incurs overhead costs.

Best Regards,
Anu

Hi,

This is Nirupama from Hyderabad. It is a nice topic to discuss. In my opinion, re-employment after a break facility should be provided to female employees so that they will be able to take care of both family and professional life.

Regards,
Nirupama

Hi,

They say equality is given to women everywhere. When we put the question - career vs. family, it is only the women who sacrifice their careers. Let the top HRs think about this and find a way to utilize the potentials of these women. I wonder why only women are taking part in this discussion. Do the men think it is a "women's issue"? Too bad of you, gentlemen. Please contribute your ideas to save women from this peril.

Regards,
Mani

Hi All,

I was just wondering why this topic came to an end so soon. Is it because women don't complain about it or if they do, they don't do it often?

Let's make the purpose of this topic clear. It should be discussed for the following reason: We should discuss this topic to provide better options for our women employees and to draft our organization's HR policies in a better way.

Thanks and Regards,
Seema Gopal

Hi,

This is a very relevant topic. I just got back to work six months ago after a maternity break.

I'll narrate my experience with respect to how employers treat maternity leave as a burden to them. During my interview for the position of Assistant Manager in an IT company with a staff of 200, I was asked about my plans for building a family. Though it is a very personal question, in my 6 years of experience, I have faced this question quite a few times.

My plans were different then, but sometimes things in life happen for good. After 6 months of joining, I had an excellent review from my boss. However, when I informed my boss that I would require maternity leave 9 months later, after completing more than 1 year of service with the company, his reaction was, "But you told me you did not have any such plans." I was put under severe mental pressure, and I had to resign in two months.

I took a long break, and now my baby is 1 year old, and I am back to corporate life.

I hope that one day our corporate world will be more sensitive towards women.

Thank you.

Hi,

This is Archana from Bangalore. I'm newly married and I don't have any plans to extend my family for another 2 years. But still, at times, I get worried thinking that in a place like Bangalore where you can't afford to stay without a job, having to leave your job when you are going to have an additional responsibility is very scary.

In such cases, I think working from home is the best option. However, as companies have constraints in doing so, we can at least opt for compressed working hours.

Regards,
Archana

Hi Rekha,

That was really a bad experience. Yes, I do agree that these questions are very personal, and nobody should interfere in those matters. My experience was a bit different. I have been working for one year and nine months. Before getting my first job, I was asked about my plans (they were referring to marriage then).

I feel the employer asks these questions to make sure that we will be with them for a longer duration. But they don't understand one thing, that with our personal responsibilities, we will take care of our professional responsibilities as well. According to me, we should frame an HR policy that personal questions like:

1) What are your plans for marriage?
2) After marriage, what are your plans about your family? (Kids)
3) Background checks like, what is your father?

Etc., etc., should not be asked.

Regards,
Seema Gopal

Hi Everyone, I am also going through the same situation as Seema and Rekha. In fact, today, I posted my case seeking everyone's help.

My Situation at Work

Dear All,

My name is Tanu, and I have 7 years of work experience. For the last 2 years, I have been working in an MNC as a Manager. Our company is Korean-based, with the head office in Korea. We have 3 people from the head office who are Koreans. The first is the Managing Director, and the other two are team leaders of two divisions. Under my division, there are only 3 people, including the team leader.

Until now, I have been performing well in my work, and all my targets have been achieved. I want to share my current situation. I am six months pregnant, and as I work in the Marketing department, I had to inform my management about this. When I informed my immediate boss, he put me through a lot of stress for almost 15 days, but then he was fine with me.

Unfortunately, I recently had health complications for which the doctor advised me to take bed rest for 15 days. I sought permission from my management to work from home, and they allowed me to do so by activating my emails. I worked from home for 15 days, and during that time, we had a new joiner in our team. The day before I was supposed to rejoin, I was informed that all the work I was handling had been assigned to the new joiner.

On my first day back, my immediate boss only asked me to hand over all the work to the new joiner, and the words he used were, "I can do whatever I wish to do in the office," which came as a surprise to me. Now, my immediate boss doesn't respond to my greetings when I arrive or leave the office. They are ignoring me so much that it's becoming difficult for me to even sit. I am losing my stamina and feeling upset because I haven't done anything wrong.

I don't understand the reason for all this. Despite performing well in my work, my head office appreciates my efforts, and to my surprise, they called to inquire about my health. I found out that they were not aware that I had rejoined and still thought I was unwell and on leave.

This situation is really distressing for me as I have developed relationships with all my customers, and despite working from home, I am facing these challenges.

Please advise me on how to handle this situation. I was planning to send an email to the management in the head office seeking justice, as I am the only woman in the Delhi branch office.

Please advise.

Regards