For years woman have been told they can juggle office and family life but now experts have said they can’t have it all…

If you love your job but imagine one day taking some time out to have a baby before resuming your high-flying career, think again.

Well, think again if you’re a woman. Us girls may be under the impression that we can have it all - a thriving career and a happy homelife - but a recent survey has revealed women should forget about taking time out to have babies if they want to reach the top in their field.

The research, conducted by a top UK headhunting firm, found that 53 per cent of companies recruiting for high-end positions with salaries over £150,000 (dhs800,000-plus) per annum think women should forsake a career break.

The survey, by InterExec, of 100 leading headhunters, asked for views on women at work and found that most firms think
females should either return to their jobs as quickly as possible or give up on having children altogether. And a massive 45 per cent thought opinions would not change either.

After working her way up to group head of new business with five years at the same UK company, Kath Green, who now lives
and works in Dubai, didn’t realise how damaging having a baby would be to her high-flying career.

She agrees that many employers frown upon women taking time out to have children.

After almost being edged out by a male sales manager she had personally promoted to take over temporarily while she was on maternity leave, Kath says her bosses made it clear they didn’t think she was up to the job once she returned to work.

She says they made it unnecessarily difficult for her to balance work and home life despite her not wanting to lessen her hours or reduce her workload. “I remember asking to start work half an hour early in order to leave half an hour earlier and I got a written letter saying no.

Then we had a meeting with HR and I was told I had too much responsibility and that my job wasn’t conducive with changing my hours.

“Luckily my husband, who did a similar job to me, could change his hours easily so he could leave early to pick our son up. All the men on his team had flexible working hours,” she explains.

Kath ended up quitting her job and, with the help of a lawyer, managed to reach an out-of- court settlement for sexual discrimination but says the experience has made her dubious about having another child.

“I’d worked my way up to a very high level - I was two levels down from the MD. My son’s five soon so it’s five years later and I’m not even at the level now that I was at then because I was edged out,” she says. “My experience has completely put me off having another child. When I was pregnant, although I never had a day off, I felt ill for nine months - I had to lie down every lunchtime. In Dubai we work flat out.

I cannot imagine being pregnant, feeling terrible and keeping up the pace. Now I just think, I’ll wait until I’m 38 and that’s the
oldest I want to be to have another child and see what kind of situation I’m in, but why should I be in the situation where I’m reasonably successful but I can’t even have two children in my life because I’m too frightened of losing my job?”

David Greenwood is a senior manager at Michael Page international recruitment consultancy in Dubai. And he believes UAE recruitment firms have an even stronger opinion on women taking time off for children.

He explains: “To be out of the business for any length of time in the current market, with so much happening, employers will arguably say ‘you’ve been out of the industry, you’re going have to take a sidewards step then move forward.

“Then, obviously you’re going to be behind the game.”

David says many firms believe their employee’s responsibilities change when they have children. For example, senior level
executives will typically travel extensively with their role, as they would be looking after a number of countries, but with a young family these travel plans may be restricted.

However, he does say the easy availability of maids at a minimal cost does make it easier for mums in this region to continue working and have children.

“In somewhere like the UK for example, you very rarely get a live in maid or a nanny for a small cost (of your monthly expenditure) in comparison to this region, so it’s common practice here. Even when both parents are in senior roles, it’s possible for them to both get on with their careers and leave the children with the nanny from three months old.”

THE BALANCING ACT
Maybe it’s because they can afford plenty of help with childcare, but these women seem to manage careers and motherhood just fine…

QUEEN RANIA OF JORDAN
Despite being considered one of the most powerful women in the world, Queen Rania of Jordan manages to raise four children between the ages of five and 16 while dedicating hours to royal duties and noble causes around the world.
She’s particularly interested in education and works to improve the calibre of education for Jordanian children. While abroad, she acts as an advocate for global education.

CHERIE BLAIR
As the former British Prime Minister’s wife and mother of four children, Cherie Booth QC, as she’s known in her legal capacity as a barrister (lawyer), also manages to be the patron for British charities Breast Cancer Care and the international hospice organisation Jospice as well. She also set up the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women to provide female entrepreneurs with access to business development support.

JK ROWLING
One of the most famous authors in the world, JK Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter book while surviving on welfare support from the government. The single parent wrote chapters in cafes around Scotland after managing to get her daughter off to sleep. She’s gone from surviving on government hand-outs to becoming the 12th richest woman in the world according to the UK’s Sunday Times Rich List in 2008.

eve.dugdale@7days.ae