The Kids Are Back

Valerie is a good employee—one of your best. She’s bright, experienced and moving up. She’s also an asset because she’s usually available. An “empty-nester,” this salaried employee doesn’t mind spending some extra time finishing up a project or coming in on the weekend to take care of an important client.

So when Valerie starts coming in later than usual and seems distracted by a lot of phone calls, you begin to worry. What’s happening to your star employee? The mystery is solved when Valerie comes into your office and asks if she can close the door. It’s Valerie’s daughter. After a messy divorce, she and her two little kids have moved back home with Mom.

Valerie isn’t alone. In fact, an article in Forbes reported that 13 percent of young people between the ages of 18 and 26 returned home after trying to make it on their own. The movie, “Failure to Launch,” found comedy in a grown son who lived with his parents. But it’s not a joke for the millions of retirees or those who paid the price to educate and launch their grown children into the world, only to have them back under their roof.

With today’s flexible workplace, employers are used to parents with young children dashing out to pick them up after school or taking some time to attend a school play or field trip. But what about those with kids who are old enough to drive themselves but too depressed or traumatized by life’s disappointments to function on  their own? It doesn’t even have to be a serious situation. They just need to talk or hang out, and are used to calling at any hour or carrying on a running text message conversation. The demands are different from grown children. Little kids at daycare are taken care of. The older ones look to mom or dad for emotional and financial support, and they need it NOW!

Good employees caught in this dilemma can find their performance and concentration slipping. Distracted by what is going on at home, they may feel they have to check in more often or take time off to spend with a child going through a life crisis. Or, they may find that the party animal who got kicked out of college has merely moved the party to its new location at Dad’s place. Dealing with either situation can be stressful and require more time at home.

Employers may not be as willing to overlook time taken out of the work day to hold an adult child’s hand or shuttle them around to job interviews. But is it any different from taking time to take a sick two-year-old to the doctor? At any age, kids are kids. Employees who are parents may feel they are entitled to the same consideration for a needy child, whether they are 2 or 22. 

A weak economy, tough job market, and a workforce of graduates who find themselves underemployed may force more families to welcome the kids back home who are unable to make it alone.  A 50 percent divorce rate doesn’t help, either.  The generations that put work before family are leaving the workplace, replaced by another that feels work is a means to a life.   The traditional work model of “in the office from 9 to 5” may need some quick adjustment to keep your employees on-the-job and available to support the big kids who are back home again.

Photo Source:  Freedigitalphotos.net