It is a prevailing belief that most Asians treasure and maintain close family ties before they get married and after they form their own family. However, this is now a half-truth as the contemporary Asian family has become structurally more varied than in the past. Indeed, the family of the 21st century does take a variety of forms -- homemakers with sole responsibility for young children, dual-career couples who rely on domestic maids or costly professional child care, parents sandwiched between care for children and for elderly parents, single parents who have to work and take charge of the household cores, parents with a handicapped child, middle-aged workers with a sick spouse, and single professionals who must support and care for aging family members. Those who work and care for the family are likely to face dilemma dividing their time and energy between office work and family matters.

On the other hand, the corporate world has grown equally complex and competitive than ever. The push for efficiency and the impact of technology have caused many companies to emphasize profit and performance at the expense of product output, better services and their human resource. Employees need to learn technical know how, master new skills and gain as much knowledge to secure a permanent job. Employees who are non degree holders begin to realize that they have a disadvantage when there are many qualified applicants in the job market. Skilled workers and middle-aged employees feel threatened to find that they can be replaced by professionals who are willing to work part-time or work form home.

Today, with many countries' economy stuck in low gear, many companies are attempting to cut costs by downsizing, eliminating rewards or hiring short-term contract employees. Full-time workers are likely to be retrenched and replaced by part-time workers that save companies on salaries, pension plans and vacation. Employees who feel that they have enough to worry about at home are now faced with reduced wages, shrinking benefits packages, limited job security and longer working hours at work. For those who cannot cope with both job and parenthood, some opt for a part-time job that enables them to work from home.

Despite a variety of part-time jobs including professional positions such as accountants, legal advisors, writers, editors, designers, office automation instructors, marketing personnel and sales engineers, workers who enjoy the flexibility of part-time work do not necessarily have job security because the work only lasts as long as the contract, say, six months or one year.

Looking from employees' point of view, the current workplace is not sensitive to understand the needs of employees, especially to those who bear the sole responsibility to take care of their family. It is time for employers who emphasize performance to have more concern about workers as people with have other commitments. Human resource personnel and manager should no longer rely on traditional, hierarchical, bureaucratic scheme to get the job done. They should be supportive enough to give an impression that the entire company is sensitive towards workers' well-being including their family.

Forum: How to achieve balance between work and family life, especially if you are a working mother?