How To Work From Home AND Have A Job With Benefits
Becoming a work from home parent can be an efficient and practical choice. With children at home comes the need for instant flexibility. Your nanny is sick again? There’s a holiday today (who knew!) and daycare is closed? My kid is in school and the nurse just called to say that they are sick? You’ll likely face all of these scenarios at one time or another as a working parent, and having the job flexibility to handle it can be a dream.
Beyond the flexibility of your schedule, other perks from working at home include time saved each day from commuting and the bonus of working in your yoga pants. You may not actually interact with other adults on a daily basis in person, but otherwise the pros can quickly top the cons.
Although working from home is a dream to many, it can be a challenge to find a remote job with benefits. Some days it may seem the only options to work at home are starting your own business (I say, go for it!), joining a Multilevel Marketing (MLM) company, or taking a part-time job with no benefits that quietly creeps into a full time position. We’re here to explore ways you can seek out a remote position that includes benefits.
1. Reach out to your network: Are you currently employed? If so, it’s worth it to ask your employer if they have any remote positions available. You might be pleasantly surprised. If your employer doesn’t have any positions available, then reach out to your professional network and see if your colleagues have a lead on any remote work possibilities.
2. Utilize the web: There are different websites that help women seek out flexible work. This site right here, Fairygodboss, has a Work-Life Balance Guide that was designed to help women get the inside scoop on companies' flexibility policies. Werk is another site designed to list jobs that have built in flexibility. Power to Fly is another that's geared toward part time and work from home positions. And there is Apres, which has a variety of listings, including remote positions.
3. Check big retailors: Amazon announced last month that they are hiring 5,000 remote jobs. Salaried positions at Target have been known to have the perk of working remotely.
This list will help you get started on your search for a remote position with benefits. If anything, let’s acknowledge that workforce flexibility is a necessity for adults to care for children and aging parents a like. Let’s urge employers to embrace this pool of talent. Stepping out of the gig economy and pressing employers to offer full time remote jobs with benefits will help them retain talent, and decrease office costs. Not to mention increase employee productivity without the distractions of the office.
Logging online and putting in the second shift from 8-11pm is essential for many earners who are also care givers. In our technology fueled world, accommodating this need is a smart asset to a company’s pool of talent.
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Jennifer Mayer supports parents through pregnancy, birth, new parenthood and the transition back to work. Shes the founder of Baby Caravan, a birth & postpartum doula agency and Baby Caravan at Work, a corporate consulting practice based in New York City. Jennifer lives in Brooklyn with her husband and son.
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