Combining Work & Motherhood

I’ve been working at IWA since February 2017 as a Business Development Manager. I am a single mom and I love the way IWA is so accommodating to employees who have children. Our company is very flexible and it’s so great to work at IWA as a parent. We use flexi time and if I ever need to take my daughter to the doctor during the day or attend a parent-teacher meeting, I can just do the hours I missed later that evening.

We had a Halloween party at the office last year for employees, and the company organised babysitters and activities for the kids so they could join in all the fun, and parents that had a hard time finding babysitters didn’t have to miss the party. We also had a BBQ party at the office last summer and the company organised a babysitter so all the employees could attend.

IWA has an office in northern Thailand and every year the company rents a house there that is used as a remote office for a month. Employees from the Finnish office are encouraged to go work at the Thailand office for a while to meet their colleagues there, work, and holiday from the remote office.

This year the remote office was in Hua Hin from mid-February to mid-March and I got a chance to go to Thailand with my 4-year-old daughter. We went to Khon Kaen first for a week so I could meet all my colleagues at the Thailand office and work there. Our hotel arranged a babysitter that looked after my daughter while I was working and that worked really well.

Then we went to Hua Hin for 4 days and we got to stay at the lovely big house IWA had rented. The house had 4 bedrooms and all amenities and it even had a private pool and sun chairs in the yard. A babysitter was arranged again so I could do some work at the house. We even had a chance to fly back to Finland from Singapore where we used to live. It was great having the opportunity to go say hi to our old friends in Singapore.

I feel very lucky working at IWA and not having to stress over combining work and family life. IWA really is the perfect employer for parents!