LETTER: THE workforce landscape is ever changing, and it becomes more evident as the Covid-19 pandemic prolongs.
The new norm, such as working from home, online meetings and flexible working hours, has to be implemented for safety and health.
This is possible because communication between supervisors and employees may now be conducted any time and anywhere through online platforms.
Although employees are completing tasks assigned to them, however, some may be struggling with house chores and their children's learning.
The question is, can employees balance between their work and family life?
Balancing 50-50 of our work and family time is definitely a myth.
There is no clear boundary between work and family because both domains are important in our lives.
Various work demands are now communicated after office hours, during weekends and on public holidays, with even tighter deadlines.
This will increase our stress level and influence our family life.
Therefore, it is important for employees to control the boundary between work and family life, which includes turning off the handphone and ignoring emails or social media notifications after working hours.
Another myth regarding this issue is work-life balance is only meant for female employees with children. Male and single employees are often out of the picture because they are perceived as not having conflicts between work and family.
For example, married male employees are often perceived as available to work full time because their wives will be taking care of the kids and household chores. For single and unmarried employees, they are perceived as having no family responsibilities.
As a result, they will end up receiving more tasks. This scenario may elevate their stress level and affect their psychological health.
Realistically, employers or supervisors should be aware of individual differences, specifically on the demand and support received by employees.
Employees with dependents, such as kids below 2 years old, together with other cohort of school-age kids or disabled family members, will face different struggles compared with parents whose kids are in college.
However, with spousal and supervisors' support, their work may still be accomplished in time.
In addition, the need for training on coping strategies such as problem-solving, cognitive restructuring and emotion regulation for different groups of employees should be designed and implemented to help them manage their work and family domains.
Coping knowledge and skills are important to match the 2025 top 10 future skills in employees identified by the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report.
DR RUHAYA HUSSIN
Department of Psychology, International Islamic
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
University Malaysia