Work-from-Home Job Offers Relief from Daycare Worries

For lots of working parents, a growing family can mean expanding worries about daycare. Often, concerns about both cost and quality of daycare is a nagging concern for many working moms and dads. Our FlexJobs success story this week focuses on one such working mother, who found relief from daycare worries with a work-from-home job.

With the birth of her baby boy, Rachel W. from Kansas City, Missouri, decided it was time to look for remote work. Looking for some air in her schedule and more time to spend with her growing family, Rachel became a FlexJobs member to broaden her remote work prospects. Through her FlexJobs membership, she found a full-time, remote job as a product quality specialist at YachtCloser, a computer software company serving the yacht brokerage industry.

Daycare Costs and a Long Commute

In her responses to questions from FlexJobs about her success finding flexible work, Rachel said she was highly motivated by unhappiness about putting her infant son in daycare after she returned to a job away from home. “I had a baby boy in May and had troubles finding quality reliable daycare,” Rachel wrote.

“I went back to work full-time and was miserable knowing that my son was in a daycare that I didn’t fully trust,” she continued. “I also had a 1.5 hour round-trip commute, which left little time to be with my family.”

Being home and available for her children was a huge factor, Rachel wrote. “I started my search for a flexible job so that I could reduce my baby’s time in daycare and also so that I could be home for my older boys before and after school,” she said.

Flexible Work to Change Life for the Better

Thanks to her virtual job, Rachel said she’s achieved a much better work-life balance and found a lot of relief from daycare worries. “I get to spend more time with my baby, reduce childcare costs, and will be able to attend my son’s school activities.”

Besides being able to spend more time with her sons, Rachel said she’s able to take better care of herself. “I have more time and drive to go to the gym,” she said. “With a flexible job, I have less stress and more patience.”

In her new flexible job, Rachel has been able to use skills and experience gained in previous jobs. Before she started working at home, she said, “I was in a high-stress product owner position and my new job is a product quality role.” She’s found not only freedom from in-house staff meetings, but the latitude to begin planning continuing education to further her career.

“I had a lot of meetings and interactions with executives in my previous job,” Rachel said. “Now I’m able to work more on my own and might start taking classes for software development.”

Tips and Insight for Other Job Seekers

As a FlexJobs member, she recommends “researching companies and reviewing new job postings” regularly to find positions that are a good fit. “It is worth the money because it is legit jobs.”

Her move didn’t come without sacrifices, Rachel said. Although many flexible jobs offer pay that’s on par with traditional jobs, Rachel’s case was different. “I took a significant pay cut and reduction in benefits for my flexible telecommute job,” she said, adding, “It was worth it for less stress and more time to be with my family.”

Rachel’s success is also a prime example of how job seekers looking for remote work can find great positions no matter where they live. As Rachel noted: “I live in Kansas City, and found a flexible telecommute job for a company in Florida.”