Big news! We were featured in DailyCandy this week, and we talked about the “F” word — “flexibility” — a word we like to celebrate around here. The response to the DailyCandy piece was overwhelming — it actually took our site down briefly. If you experienced this, we thank you for returning and for your patience! You can read the article below, plus a roundup of the working moms and flexible work trends news we have been monitoring this week.
Why Companies Need to Lean In (via Lean In)
A really thoughtful approach to thinking about how corporate structure can create a better environment for women when they need flexibility, by Bob Moritz, chairman and senior partner of PwC. Bob says career paths need to be “less rigid” and that companies need to “create environments” that support leaning in and leaning back. Hear, hear, Bob! We agree, and said something very similar, here: Thank You To Marissa and Sheryl. Now, Let’s Really Talk –
Why 43% of Women With Children Leave Their Jobs, and How to Get Them Back (The Atlantic)
The author suggests that “Parents could take on freelance, deadline-driven projects for companies.” We couldn’t agree more!
Speaking at an HR conference she says “people are more productive when they’re alone, but they’re more collaborative and innovative when they’re together.”
‘The Hell Of American Day Care’: Expensive And ‘Mediocre’ (NPR)
NPR’s Terry Gross interviews the Jonathan Cohn, author of the new cover story for The New Republic, titled, “The Hell of American Day Care.” You can listen to this conversation and learn about costs and quality of the care, and in some cases lack of regulation, that so many parents rely on as working parents — across the income spectrum.
Candace Bushnell On Women, Working And Leaning In: Stop Complaining (Forbes)
Forbes’s Meghan Casserly interviews Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell and gets her take of work-life balance. Headline kind of says it all, but Meghan adds her own take: “I think we’re at a point where we’re like—okay, we’re no longer a minority in this “working” game and so we’re no longer going to paint on our brave and grateful faces over the breakfast table every morning… now we want to be happy about it.” We couldn’t agree more.
Thank You, Sheryl Sandberg (CNN iReport)
A really heart-felt report from a stay-at-home mom on why she is choosing to not work right now. The piece received a lot of attention and also a reaction from Sheryl Sandberg, who thanked the author in return for getting the meaning of Lean In. Hooray!
Work It: Maybrooks helps moms find jobs that work (Daily Candy)
One out-take from DC: Let’s talk about the “F” word: It’s so funny, because people get so fidgety around the word “flexibility,” like it means that someone doesn’t want to work hard. In fact, most of us want to — and do — work very hard, and we are always available thanks to smartphones and tablets.
