Advice from Working Mums

hely, working in banking i actually think that part-time should be very much possible in compliance as long as you are willing to take yourself back a bit in terms of promotion and salary raises. if it's possible in one area within a bank, it's compliance!

just ask them
 
if you are not client facing or in a support function that is market driven, it should theoretically be easier to push the issue of a flexible schedule. If you work for a global/Intl bank, then they 'should' be even more committed to diversity and have a harder time refusing requests related to work life balance. Of course career progression will be out the window....

There may be policies that you don't even know exist! I only found out on my second child that as I was breastfeeding, they would pay for my baby/helper to come with me on business trips (if you share a twin room of course). I never took advantage of this but it was nice to know the option was there.
 
Just found this thread as I am going through these same questions myself with my 2 young ones. One headhunter put it a good way - if there is anywhere in the world where you can try to have a career and be a parent it's Hong Kong because of the available, affordable live-in help. So, despite the criticisms of HK being unfriendly to part-time roles and women's working issues, I found that to be a good point. But of course that wasn't exactly how this thread was started - it was about how much time with your kids is enough. I recently read that people spend more time with their kids than they did in the golden ages of the 60s/70s (in the US anyway), because women used to be much more consumed by household chores and kids were often left to wander around in the neighborhood all afternoon. Not sure I completely buy into that but I guess the point is that this has been an issue for decades and at least in some people's eyes, modern conveniences have made it easier for us to spend more quality time with our kids when we are with them. I certainly don't remember tons of focused time with my parents growing up, yet it was enough time for me to have a great relationship with them.

Curious tho - for the women that were able to go to part-time roles roles, (esp those in legal or banking), if you even still check this website, are you guys still there? Is it still working out? Career trajectory still on hold? Because I understood from some wise moms I know with older kids that all the women they knew who managed to work something out eventually ended up quitting b/c it didn't work out long term. That was disheartening, but hopefully not the case for everyone.
 
Hi Ssheng, am going through the same thought process... Just relocated to HK this November and am 17 weeks pregnant... Hope I will not struggle too much to find an option where to leave my baby during the day. My bank is ok with home office work so that should also help a bit... But let's wait and c how things develop when my little treasure joins us :-)
 
Like Ssheng, I too am interested to hear from working moms out here in HK. We moved here earlier this year and I have not worked full time since January. Baby #2 came in May and with my almost 3-yo, my days are pretty busy even with a FT live-in helper. In my industry (market research analytics) I have encountered quite a few women working from home, or those who took several years off until their youngest is 5 or 6 before returning to the work force full time (this is in the States), but from what I've seen, it's those who spent a whole lot of time at work (and hence, little at home) who get ahead. They either have no children, have SAH husbands, or are rather aged (ie. they reached the 'top' later than the average men). It is rather disheartening, but I wonder how that works here in HK where live-in help is very affordable.

My plan is to do my own consulting work to keep up with the industry so I stay relevant if/when I want to return to work, but I'm not sure how that will work out...
 
Because of the live-in help in HK, I think it's easier to get back to a career but I definitely think it would be harder in some professions - the ones that require a lot of overtime as part of the job description. I chose to slow down my career a bit before I got pregnant but at least the option of competent help enables me to be in the workplace at all, a choice that works for me. Yes, it might mean reaching the top - if that's what you want - later than a man might (though frankly my husband has slowed down his career too - he'd rather leave work on time and spend time with out baby just like I would) but I don't see a problem with that... it's time well spent on your child.
 
Live in help definitely has it's advantages....I did end up quitting after baby #2 even with help though since my mind was always wandering at work. Lucky for me I teach and it is ok to take a few years off and then go back.
 
I'm a mandarin teacher, I worked part time before, so I had more time to take care of my son, now he is 9 years old, and I'm glad I can work full time, I think its very important that spend more time with your kids before age 6, but when he grow up, we should not hovering over him all day, so, i think keep working is good for both children and mothers.
 
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