Any caregiver who has taken a significant break from employment to nurture their children understands how challenging it can be to reintegrate into the job market. Applications often prompt inquiries about the periods of inactivity on their CVs—and if parents aren’t disregarded or turned down, the logistical chaos of arranging school pickups or securing affordable childcare during standard work hours adds considerable strain to juggling a new position with family obligations.
Amy Grilli is a mother familiar with this reality. After dedicating five years to raising her children, she re-entered the job market, feeling uncertain and grappling with the challenges that came with it. Grilli shared her experiences regarding the hurdles of rejoining the workforce on LinkedIn. When her post gained widespread attention, she realized she wasn’t alone in her struggles.
Grilli expressed her “complete amazement” upon witnessing the overwhelming response to her post, especially considering she was relatively new to the professional networking site. By day’s end, her post had attracted one million views. Just two weeks later, it garnered an astonishing 14 million impressions. Since then, it has amassed over 218,000 reactions and nearly 10,000 comments. Grilli remarks, “[This] is something I’m still struggling to comprehend. I’m [grateful] for the chance to make my voice a catalyst for parents seeking to be heard.”
The inception of the Five Hour Club
After articulating her feelings of despair while searching for a job that offered flexibility or aligned with school hours, Grilli revealed in her viral LinkedIn update the inception of the Five Hour Club—an alternative to the conventional nine-to-five work schedule. Together with her co-founder Emma Harvey, Ph.D., Grilli is “proposing… a solution for parents to establish boundaries, enhance productivity, and sustain their careers amid school runs, aiming to promote diversity and lessen the gender pay disparity in professional settings.” Their mission’s tagline states: “Because the typical nine-to-five isn’t suitable for parents.”
The duo has assembled a job board for the Five Hour Club, showcasing positions from “innovative, family-centric employers” that “allow parents to work [for] five hours during school hours for up to five days a week.” Grilli emphasizes that they vet these employers thoroughly to validate that available roles align with Five Hour Workday standards.
Parents can access the Five Hour Club job board to set up a job seeker profile by uploading their resume, a picture, and pertinent details regarding their job preferences. Employers looking for candidates for these specific roles can then review these profiles and initiate contact.
Tailoring job opportunities for parents
Grilli and Harvey conducted a Five Hour Workday survey, targeting 2,500 parents across 64 nations, to discover what mothers and fathers most desire concerning employment. The survey revealed that “87% of participants crave a five-hour workday that accommodates their children.” Harvey adds, “The focus is on transparency. We’re urging employers to implement five-hour workdays rather than merely suggesting ‘flexible arrangements for parents’ because we understand that ambiguity in job postings can hinder the application process. Including flexible work options in job descriptions might attract more candidates… and ensures parents know precisely what they’re applying for.”
The five-hour workday gives parents an opportunity to escape the usual scenario of full-time work while hoping for the flexibility they need from their employers. Grilli explains that juggling family responsibilities alongside a full-time job can lead to “burnout and the guilt of not excelling in either role, often driving them to exit the workforce completely.”
Pioneering a new path
As reactions to Grilli’s post flooded in, she noted that the comments that “caught [her] off guard the most were those from organizational leaders. Among almost 10,000 comments, nearly half were from senior executives and C-suite members, all showing support for parents and recognizing the difficulties a traditional nine-to-five schedule presents. Many shared experiences related to their partners facing similar challenges, while others had ventured into entrepreneurship after encountering these issues themselves.”
The employers and leaders who are listing jobs on the Five Hour Club job board are redefining the working landscape for parents. They realize that parents play an essential role in the workforce and are eager to participate in a mission that offers a more flexible workday while enabling access to a broader range of qualified candidates who might not have applied before.
Seek support and community within the Five Hour Club
Grilli and Harvey are also working to establish a nurturing Five Hour Club community “to support parents re-entering the workforce after having children.” They intend to “provide career coaching, resources, and workshops to enhance [parents’] confidence during job applications, as we learned from our Five Hour Workday survey that only 28% of parents feel self-assured when applying for jobs, a statistic we aim to improve.”
Additionally, Grilli and Harvey have launched the Five Hour Club Podcast “to share authentic stories from real parents about their real struggles and how they navigate work and life amidst school runs, amplifying the voices of parents to ensure they are heard.”
It’s uplifting to witness parents uniting to support one another in their endeavors to secure work and manage family and professional responsibilities. The Five Hour Club sets a significant example for employers to consider the challenges faced by working parents. With hope, this innovative approach to the work schedule will soon be the standard for working mothers and fathers.
