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We currently have something very similar to Apple's proposed policy (~2 days in the office per week, several weeks remote work per year). Some like it and will

We currently have something very similar to Apple's proposed policy (~2 days in the office per week, several weeks remote work per year). Some like it and will work from home as much as they can, others will come to the office but don't mind the flexibility. What was interesting was comments from an anonymous poll. A couple of people said they didn't like the policy since it meant they ended up caring for young children almost all the time. Previously, they would split things like taking them to/from school or looking after them if they were sick 50:50 with their partner. One person having so much flexibility meant this became 100:0. In theory we were flexible before 2020, but its only since 2020 that I've felt doing my laundry was an acceptable reason to work from home.

chrisseaton 5y ago
Not sure I get it - why would working from home mean that you need to look after the children more? You can still use whatever other childcare arrangements you were using before, exactly as if you were in an office.
- falcolas 5y ago
  This, plus if your partner is dumping things on you because you're free, that's a partner communication issue, not a WFH issue.
  - ectopod 5y ago
    If your partner has to take unpaid leave you might both agree that it's better for you to care for the sick child. But you're still stuck with it.
- shagie 5y ago
  Often a sick child (can't go to daycare / school) gets a "today I take a PTO day, you take a PTO day next time." When one partner has WFH, neither person needs to take an absence from work, but the person who is WFH gets all the childcare. There's also the "the person with the flexible schedule allows the other schedule to become more normalized." In the before times, one of my co-workers picked up their child on alternating days. So Monday was late in (drop off child at school) and late out (spouse picked up the child). Tuesday was early in (spouse dropped off the child) and early out (pick up child at school). This way both people were able to get in 8h days at work. With WFH, my co-worker's schedule shifted so that they were the one always dropping off and picking up the child (and having what would be considered a split shift - working a few hours in the late afternoon or evening). For my co-worker, this was overall a net positive (school was a short distance from the house compared to a long, out of the way distance from work) allowing (even with the schedule change) less time spent ferrying a child around... but it also meant that my co-worker is doing all the child ferrying while their spouse is working a regular 9-5 that have oddities of child ferrying adjustments.
s1artibartfast 5y ago
This sounds entirely like a personal relationship problem. Funny to see it come up in a company survey.
- baq 5y ago
  No matter what they tell you, it’s a people problem.

chrisseaton 5y ago

Not sure I get it - why would working from home mean that you need to look after the children more? You can still use whatever other childcare arrangements you were using before, exactly as if you were in an office.

falcolas 5y ago
This, plus if your partner is dumping things on you because you're free, that's a partner communication issue, not a WFH issue.
- ectopod 5y ago
  If your partner has to take unpaid leave you might both agree that it's better for you to care for the sick child. But you're still stuck with it.
shagie 5y ago
Often a sick child (can't go to daycare / school) gets a "today I take a PTO day, you take a PTO day next time." When one partner has WFH, neither person needs to take an absence from work, but the person who is WFH gets all the childcare. There's also the "the person with the flexible schedule allows the other schedule to become more normalized." In the before times, one of my co-workers picked up their child on alternating days. So Monday was late in (drop off child at school) and late out (spouse picked up the child). Tuesday was early in (spouse dropped off the child) and early out (pick up child at school). This way both people were able to get in 8h days at work. With WFH, my co-worker's schedule shifted so that they were the one always dropping off and picking up the child (and having what would be considered a split shift - working a few hours in the late afternoon or evening). For my co-worker, this was overall a net positive (school was a short distance from the house compared to a long, out of the way distance from work) allowing (even with the schedule change) less time spent ferrying a child around... but it also meant that my co-worker is doing all the child ferrying while their spouse is working a regular 9-5 that have oddities of child ferrying adjustments.

s1artibartfast 5y ago

This sounds entirely like a personal relationship problem. Funny to see it come up in a company survey.

baq 5y ago
No matter what they tell you, it’s a people problem.