It’s been a year of change and diversification…
THIS year’s International Women’s Day is different to say the least given how Covid has tested the resolve of people and businesses alike. This year’s theme is ‘choose to challenge’ which is an appropriate symbol for not only the ongoing recognition that women in the workplace deserve, but also in our fight against the virus.
While it has been a hard year for everyone, women in particular have been at the coalface of the challenges as they combine their working lives with their home lives on a scale that goes above and beyond the norm. This supplement is an opportunity to recognise this huge effort and showcase the amazing tenacity and drive women have to succeed in their personal and working lives.
To all the women working in the retail sector, our brave healthcare workers, the mothers who juggled home schooling and work simultaneously, and mothers caring for children with special needs, do not for a second undervalue your contribution to society over the past 12 months.
It’s also been a year of change and diversification for women. Our lives have changed and have been altered to such an extent that many of us had to re-evaluate the day-to-day structure of home life. The home has become the workplace for so many women that the line between work/life balance has been blurred.
But the way in which women have adapted and diversified to meet this challenge is truly breath-taking. In the past, a women’s choice usually lay between staying at home and minding children and going out into the workplace to build a career. Did we ever think a day would come when both would become the norm at the same time?
Even the remarkable way in which The Corkman team has diversified to meet the challenge is so inspiring. Each week we get a paper out working from home and working together in a way that just over 12 months ago would have seemed impossible. The same, I’m sure, is also true of your business and work, whatever it may be. We have all gone above and beyond the norm, learned new skills and became more resilient thought necessity. Now more than ever supporting each other and supporting local will continue to carry us through this difficult year.