When two mums become one: Job sharing in media – can it work?
UM Sydney’s Laura Arnott and Carol Kearney explain the benefits of job sharing in an industry not exactly known for its parental leave benefits.
Looking around our buzzing Sydney agency there are lots of young, ambitious and talented women (and men), mostly in their twenties or early thirties. The vast majority of them are yet to have children.
They love their job, love the industry, the opportunities and the perks that media and advertising offers. And in reality most of them have probably not given much thought to what their career might look like if they end up adding mum into their title.
Historically, media agencies have not been known for being family friendly, with maternity pay only really being brought in in the past five years and flexible working being the exception not the rule. But the tide is on the turn, with flexible working policies being openly promoted more and more with constant reviews and improvements made to maternity and paternity cover. This is such an important shift in focus, as whilst we fully appreciate that these initiatives can incur costs to businesses, the costs are definitely less so than losing young talented women due to lack of support from their agencies.
