Being a mother and wanting to work remotely. Is that a lot to ask? | Hacker News Reader

Being a mother and wanting to work remotely. Is that a lot to ask?

medium.com

It’s apparently too much to ask at that particular company, which is that company’s choice.

Not all jobs can be done remotely; not all jobs can be broken up into 6 hours in office and 2 hours async and remote. The article doesn’t provide enough details to make a fair judgment, but casts aspersions against the company.

Further, why is it “worse” that this decision came from a woman? Do we hold women executives to a different standard now? Is that fair or appropriate? Either the decision is right or wrong on balance, but it’s not “wrong by a woman” and “okay” or “wrong but understandable/expected by a man.”

Should being a mother entitle you to privileges for that sort of thing? It's a personal choice after all.

Well, independent of it being a personal choice, I guess there are some questions we as a society need to answer: Do we want women to have children? Do we want to allow women with children to work? If yes, are we willing to make the changes that are necessary? If not, are we willing to support families so that there is no need to work? Doesn't it make sense to take the opportunity that knowledge workers get by using the internet to solve some of the challenges?

And maybe this doesn't need to be a privilege for mothers. Maybe everyone else can benefit from some flexibility if we don't set up our work around 9-5 presence. Who knows what other benefits this unlocks, even for work productivity.

By the way, I find it strange how someone hiring can go from 'you are exactly the person we have been looking for' to 'no interest' just because someone asks for some flexibility.

It's not like employers and managers are known for being open minded when asked to modernize their workplace. Too much work, I guess.

From a non-US perspective, I find it highly surprising that having children and wanting to care for them is framed as a deviant "personal choice" rather than something most humans do that is very normal and expected.

Do you honestly think making people choose between raising children and having gainful employment is normal and acceptable?

To answer your question, yes, being a parent is a normal part of life and society should be accomodating to the needs of parents, to the extent that is possible. (In fact, I struggle to see why working somewhere else than your designated office for a few hours a week would be a 'privilege' if the particulars of the job allow for it. I get the impression that bosses that disallow this are on a power trip and do not have the best interests of their workers, and thus their company, in mind.)

> Do you honestly think making people choose between raising children and having gainful employment is normal and acceptable?

The argument I was making is that they are expecting privileges for being a parent. I know a number of women who see their career as more important than having children as plenty of others who see their children as more important than a career. Life is full of compromises, why should having children be seen otherwise.

The world is overpopulated and we should be looking for ways to bring the population down humanely before nature does it in a far harsher manner.

Wow, this is such an unempathetic, arrogant thing to say. A fine example of how much tech is out of touch with humanity.

I'm generally very ignorant of other job functions, but is remote working (even part time) common for non tech workers yet?

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