The sound of clicking on keys echoed dryly in the deserted house. It was 9 pm, Ms. Thu Mai (28 years old, communication staff in Lang Son) still could not take her eyes off the laptop screen. Behind her, her 3-year-old son had fallen asleep on the sofa with an unfinished toy.
The scene at Ms. Mai's family is a miniature picture of many modern young mothers. Following the wheel of performance evaluation indicators (KPI), many female workers are struggling to fulfill "two roles", a diligent employee at the office and a perfect mother at home.
In the last month of the quarter, work pressure is heavy. Ms. Mai shared that the nature of the job requires her to constantly be on duty on her phone, process information and report progress.
There were days when I only left the company at 7 pm, and when I got home, I had already eaten rice myself. As soon as I picked up the bowl of rice, messages in the chat group rang up again. I had to put down the bowl and chopsticks to handle it. Looking back and forth, my child had already fallen asleep at some point," Ms. Mai recounted.
The accumulated fatigue gradually reduced the moments for the family. The promise to take the children out on weekends was cancelled at the last minute due to a sudden project.
Modern society places a challenging paradox on women's shoulders. In the office environment, they face fierce competition.
If they take a step back, they are easily judged as lacking concentration. But when they step through the door of the house, they are required to wholeheartedly take care of their family.
Ms. Minh Anh, working at a business in Lang Son, is also in the same situation.
She confided: "Many times I feel exhausted. I want to strive for my career so that my child has a better future, but the price to pay is that the time spent with my child is too little. Many times I feel extremely guilty towards my child, but being late at work is also not okay.
Prolonged imbalance not only affects the quality of work but also drains the mental health of female workers, pushing them into prolonged stress.
After her child was sick and had to be hospitalized in the middle of the night while she was still unfinished reporting, Ms. Mai decided to frankly discuss with her superiors to adjust the workload, accepting a slightly reduced income in exchange for being able to leave the office at exactly 5:30 PM.
I realize that my career can be rebuilt, but my childhood is only one," Ms. Mai smiled, her eyes light.
Balancing work and family has never been an easy problem for young mothers. What they need is not only their own efforts, but also understanding and sharing from their partners, as well as more flexible and humane policies from agencies and organizations.
