HOST INTRO: It has officially been over a year since most businesses and people were forced to quarantine and work on a virtual setting due to COVID-19. With the vaccine becoming more wide-spread throughout the country, Osvaldo Garcia spoke to a Digital Marketer for Verizon on how the transitional year has been and her thoughts moving on from the pandemic.
AMBI: Coffee slowly boils.
TRACK: I am Osvaldo Garcia here with Yanike Ramirez in her South Bronx townhouse, watching as she is making herself a small breakfast and preparing for a presentation to the Vice-Presidents of Verizon. She is both a Dominican mother of two children and leads a team of digital marketers at the headquarters of the company.
ACT: YANIKE: So at first like everyone else I was very nervous. I did not know exactly what to expect, like what was going on, if this was going to be a couple of weeks or a year later, as we are today. I wasn’t sure at the time, how long the situation was going to last. It made sense for the workforce to be transitioned to home, especially since the kids were also being homeschooled so it made a lot of sense to do that.
TRACK: Yanike continues to say how working from home has been tough because of the additional responsibilities of motherhood.
ACT: YANIKE: I would say it’s been tough, You have to pay one-hundred percent attention to your work, but you also have to attend to the needs of your children while you’re here, even though you’re supposed to be at work. It’s like you’re home so you have to be there for them too. So that’s been the challenging part, having to manage both things at the same time.
AMBI: Sounds of typing on keyboard and mouse clicking.
TRACK: However, in terms of her professional career, she’s grateful for not having to commute which gives her the ability to be more productive throughout the day.
ACT: YANIKE: I would say surprisingly it has been better, I have been able to do more being home. My commute was about an hour and a half each way every day so I feel like I am being more productive, just being home and getting stuff done. The time I used to commute I can now be in meetings, I can review my emails. There is more I can do while being here and saving the commute time.
TRACK: Yanike is happy to be at home more, even though it has been a challenge.
ACT: YANIKE: It’s not been easier, but better because I get to spend time with my kids. I see them more often whereas before I would commute and be at work for about 10 hours out of the house, so instead, I get to spend those 10 hours here. So it’s been beneficial. On the other hand it has been challenging because sometimes it’s been challenging because my kids don’t understand that sometimes I’m working and they might interrupt things. You know just because you’re here doesn’t mean you are available all the time. Luckily for me, my kids are a little bit older so they understand a little bit more, but they still interrupt from tie to time.
TRACK: She would prefer to work virtually from now on where she has the flexibility to work from anywhere.
ACT: YANIKE: I honestly would prefer to stay in this work environment that I am in right now, just because, like I mentioned earlier my commute situation is a little far. It’s 3 hours a day that I spend commuting and I feel like I’m more productive being home rather than being in the office to just be in the office. Where I can do my job from anywhere as long as I have my laptop and wifi. It doesn’t really matter, me being there physically. I don’t really meet with outside customers. Everything is very internal, all the meetings that I have and the people that I work with. It’s not needed. But, you also need a little bit of social life too. You want to see people in person versus having to do video conferencing. But, from my perspective, I would prefer to be home.
TRACK: It’s good to note that some people, like Yanike Ramirez, have taken this opportunity to make their positions permanently in person for its accessibility and time-saving benefits. This is Osvaldo Garcia, signing off.