THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 23, 1995 TAG: 9510200029
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
The letter from Tina Baran (``Family-friendly jobs needed,'' Oct. 6) brought a definite ``Here! Here!'' from me. I have faced prospective employers and found they are married to their positions.
Requests for extended days are usually at no additional compensation. We used to get the job done in eight hours. Employees didn't mind coming in a little extra for that occasional emergency. Today, everything is an emergency.
We have the tools for doing the job more efficiently but seem to spend more time doing it. The fax machine, computers, cellular phones are all at our disposal, but we are still spending additional hours doing the same job we used to do in a normal eight-hour day.
Young people need to have time with family and, quite honestly, parents need time with their children. We have more mental-health and family problems than ever before. Children with too much time alone get the wrong kind of attention or, worse, no attention at all because parents are working 10-12-hour days. What happened to companies that are concerned for the welfare of their employees?
I totally agree with Ms. Baran. America should wake up!
JANE A. DOHRMANN
Norfolk, Oct. 6, 1995 by CNB