Dual Career Couples –Career Programs for the special groups

In the recent years, there is growing tendency of dual career families in metro cities. Now when we talk about dual career couples, it is a situation where both husband and wife have distinct careers outside the home. There are certain puzzling questions which arise naturally about these couples, like ; whose career is more important ?; Who takes care of children ?; what if the wife gets a tempting offer of promotion in another location , will the husband sacrifice his career ?; Who buys groceries and clean the house if both are busy etc.

These are certain questions regarding family roles and work demands and if these questions left unanswered among the couples, it can be a major cause of tensions, frictions, and differences which shall be difficult to reconcile.

Recent studies reveal that Dual career couples devote around 70% of their time pursuing their career ambitions and somehow manage to spare a meagre 18% of their total time for their personal lives. Long work hours and frequent travels have even led to few or no children families. Realizing these problems, organizations like Infosys, Gillette, and TCS etc have come with programs that takes special care of Dual career couples. They are providing a place and procedure for discussing such role conflicts and coping strategies. They are coming out with schemes such as part time work, long parental leave, child care centers, flexible working hours and promotions and transfers in tune with the demand of dual career conflicts. Moreover, helpful colleagues and an understanding boss that every dual career couple longs for. Apart from every support provided by organizations, the couples have to do a juggling act of managing time and responsibilities of the spouse and absence of which can break apart a marriage.