People make their way around the downtown skyway system early in Minneapolis on March 6. Employers in Minnesota and across the country are calling workers back to the office — some five days a week — in a 180-degree shift from the flexibility of the pandemic years. (Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Lindsay Whipple of Minneapolis gave notice at her job in higher education administration this summer, after years of working full-time to support a growing family while her husband went back to school.
The job allowed Whipple to do what she needed to balance it all: to leave and nurse her infant son when he wouldn’t take a bottle or to use vacation and sick time when she was patching together multiple sources of child care. But there were strings attached.
“There was a lot of flexibility offered to me … but there were a lot of restrictions, too, and a lot of guilt,” said the 38-year-old.
Now a mother of four, Whipple recently started a part-time job and doesn’t envision going back to 40 hours a week.
“That’s just a grind that seems impossible,” she said.
Bridget Engelbrektson, 38, of Minnetonka, chose a nursing career because of the flexibility it offered. But as her three kids grew, she said, “It became clear that daycare, for one, is a business that requires commitment and ongoing cash flow.”
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