Here is a little something I posted on LinkedIn today, I wanted to share it here too as I think it is such an important issue to so many.

The Silent Brain Drain in the UK

I have had a job since I was 15 years of age and I am now 45. I have two Degrees and a Masters. I am a qualified solicitor and now I also have a chronic illness.

I developed my chronic illness about 4 years ago. It went unidentified for some time but my diagnosis is Fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain Syndrome, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. There is no cure. I was working full time, commuting into London each day and added to this I am a single mum, but then I became sick. My sickness is unpredictable and I often have to manage it day by day sometimes hour-by-hour, it manifests itself in extreme chronic pain and exhaustion. I’ve had to learn how to manage my illness, I really need to be mindful of how I spend my energy,  as we all do, but my energy is more obviously finite than other peoples. I am able to function perfectly well if I pace myself and put plans in place for this. I can use my brain and work but if I have to commute to my job first then that’ll be my energy for the day, the next few days possibly, already used up. Traditional notions of full-time work, or just work in general, are no longer an option for me, so what do I do?

Flexible working is a hot topic at the moment in the world of work and so it should be. We need to rethink how we as Society perceive the way in which people work. I feel I have a lot to contribute but as I no longer fit into any of the templates available for work I am now being forced to drop out of the system. There are thousands of people in my position and the only way to address this successfully, I believe, is to to have an overhaul of how we work and the structure in which we work. Anna Whitehouse at Mother Pukka is passionate about the issue of flexible working and I believe that for people in my position she is a real champion, also for parents, carers, anyone who has requirements that see them with needs that fall outside traditional work norms.

We aren’t going away, we won’t fade into obscurity just because we are not facilitated, in fact, the people losing out are the employers. We are the silent brain drain. #flexappeal #flexibleworking #chronicillness #silentbraindrain