We must continually remind ourselves & our employers that full-time #teleworking while simultaneously parenting small children is ridiculously impossible. An entire generation of working parents is suffering right now. I am one of them. #COVID19 @UNCpublichealth
1/n

I’ve seen almost no adjustment in mine or my husband’s employers’ expectations about our work. If anything, I’m getting more emails, mtg requests & asks than ever. Leaders need to advocate for cancelling unnecessary mtgs, reducing email volume & changing expectations #COVID19 2/n

Arguing that we can simply move mtgs & teaching to teleconference formats w/o any adjustment to need, length, or frequency is painfully insufficient and ignorant of the reality of young children needing attention. All. The. Time. #COVID19 3/n

Not to mention, the presumption that everyone has sufficient internet connectivity and cellular coverage to support all the #teleworking and #homeschooling required just exacerbates the problem among rural and remotely located workers-myself included. #COVID19 4/n

Our leaders need to recognize that this is NOT business-as-usual-just-done-remotely-now. This is NOT one big writing retreat for #AcademicTwitter parents. This is not the time to expect people to “catch up on emails and to-do lists”. #COVID19 5/n

#COVID19 #teleworking and #homeschooling are fundamentally in conflict with each other. And employers expecting working parents to carry on and adjust to 24/7 “flexible schedules” and other so-called fixes is an enormous miscalculation that misses the mark. 6/n

Instead, we should expect our leaders to #DoBetter to recognize the value #WorkingParents bring to the workforce, the untenable pressures of the current reality, & the very real potential for burnout, lost productivity & health consequences if left unmitigated. #COVID19 7/n

At every opportunity, every level of leader should convey that a healthy workforce is the priority, that healthy families are part of healthy workers & that with the exception of clinicians providing care, #MostThingsCanWait

We need culture change in #COVID19 #telework NOW. 8/8

FYI: This excellent perspective piece resonated with me and motivated me to say something. Like the author, I recognize the security of my job as a privilege when so many are losing jobs. But that doesn’t mean employers can’t do better. https://gen.medium.com/parents-are-not-ok-66ab2a3e42d9