Most female managers were either single or didn't have children younger than ten. That's not healthy. The paper's new job-share, which began last spring, put former investigative reporter Patricia Wen and former assistant business editor Sarah Snyder together as weekend and special projects editor on the city desk. Wen comes in Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and spends most of her time assigning stories and talking to reporters. Snyder works Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and does a bit more editing.
Nobody has to pick up their work.
Of the twenty largest U.S. papers, only the Globe and The Miami Herald have tried job-sharing specifically to keep working mothers on a management track. At the Globe, this heightened awareness come in part from top male managers' own life experiences. When assistant business editor Snyder learned of an opening for an assistant metropolitan editor on the city desk, she first sought editor Storin's go-ahead for exploring the idea of sharing the job. They outlined their schedules, identified potential problems, and described hwo they thought the problems could be solved. Then, over time, the programs are slowly modified and improved.