All the Richer

No, she wouldn’t. Our team would step up to make sure her family could come first. She might have to put in extra hours the night before, wake up a bit earlier the day of, make sure all her files and assignments have final approval. Depending on her level of seniority and responsibility, she might have to check in by phone or email before leaving to the wedding. But we’d be there to take up the slack.

And were she to have a child’s siddur party, or a parent’s yahrtzeit, or a family emergency, our team would extend the same understanding and help fill in the holes so she could be the mother, daughter, or spouse she needs to be.

Would we prefer to hire people who unplug entirely from family and community when they plug in to their work assignments? It does sound tempting. Sometimes I build a profile of the ideal hire in my mind: male, with a spouse who takes care of all pediatricians’ appointments and correspondence with irate teachers. Lives and breathes media, pursues sources and scoops 24/6. Does not receive too many phone calls from children during work hours. Can hit the road at a moment’s notice. Is able to drop everything and report a breaking story on Erev Shabbos without worrying about what the family will eat.

Thankfully, we have some people who meet most of that description — but many, many of our team members are women who have significant duties at home. Even among the men, there’s lots of juggling going on: cute little voices on speaker phone, visits to the emergency room with a child needing stitches, school crises, family and community obligations. (Some of them cook too.)