Managing Your Work, Your Child's Work Online

The coronavirus pandemic has changed many things about everyday life. One big change is childcare – or the lack of it.

As many childcare providers closed as part of public safety measures, so did schools, offices and businesses. Social restrictions also tightened. This meant many older adults were unable to help watch or care for their grandchildren.

This left working parents with a sudden, unexpected problem -- working from home with children who also had schoolwork to do.

Many parents struggled to meet work demands while watching over their child's online studies at the same time. Even companies whose job it is to prepare for a pandemic were caught off guard – or unprepared.

The British drug-maker AstraZeneca spent years preparing for a health crisis. However, when it happened, the company was not prepared to help its employees work effectively at home with their children. The company asked its 8,300 employees about childcare and found that at least 1,100 needed help.

Fiona Cicconi heads the company's human resources office. She noted that some employees said they were feeling worried about the work they had to do and about not getting it done.

Several of those working parents are also responsible for trying to produce a vaccine for the disease COVID-19.

So, AstraZeneca did many things to help its employees by helping their children. The company found about 80 teachers and paid them to organize classes online. It developed a computer software program to make planning the lessons easy. And it also found tutors for children needing one-on-one instruction.

新闻来源：Reuter’s