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Job searching while pregnant in a Covid world

notlikearegularmomnotlikearegularmom member
in 1st Trimester
I wasn’t sure the best place for this, but since I’m still in 1st trimester...

I am really excited to be expecting our first, but I’m finding that excitement becoming really overshadowed due to my job search.

Literally the day after I got that BFP I was suddenly and unexpectedly laid off from my job due to Covid (with no courtesy given my professional role, I might add). Whether valid or not, I felt betrayed and angry for a multitude of reasons. Over the past year a couple colleagues had their first child and we celebrated them and supported them... they enjoyed their nice paid maternity/paternity leave. I felt robbed of that. 

Flash forward to getting a new job offer. After accepting an offer, I wanted to be transparent and went ahead and shared that I was expecting and my anticipated due date in the interest of getting the best head start. After some slow back and forth about my exact start date as they worked through an onboarding plan, my offer was rescinded “due to Covid.”

I loved my job. I like working. I’ve always known I didn’t want to be a stay at home mom. We are a 2 income household that very much needs 2 incomes. Now, I can’t help but feel suspicious and terrified that no one will hire me in a comparable role. Knowing how long the hiring process can take for professional roles, I’m terrified that should I be hired, people working with me for the first time won’t adequately get to know me and my work, that I’ll appear weak as I manage through symptoms, I won’t have made measurable impacts prior to leave, and/or that I won’t be eligible for paid leave/related benefits.

We all know pregnancy isn’t something you can discriminate against, and yet it happens all the time. Especially in the hiring and early employment phase of a job, much can be hidden under the fact that decisions can be made without cause. 

Pregnancy is now feeling like a huge setback. I’m having so much anxiety over it.

Not sure what I’m looking for here, but if anyone has any related encouraging stories to share or is going through something similar, I’d love to hear from you.
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Re: Job searching while pregnant in a Covid world

  • dancingnarwhaldancingnarwhal member
    I'm not quite in the same situation but similar. The day after getting a positive pregnancy test I found out that 2 of the 3 classes I teach have been cancelled for next semester. That is a massive, massive cut to my monthly pay check. And I think it's very doubtful I'm going to get any summer courses even though I typically teach at least one each summer. So now the question becomes if it's even worth trying to find something to supplement it when 1) Every university/college is seeing huge enrollment drops so its unlikely I can pick up other courses somewhere else 2) Enrollment should pick back up in the Fall so it's not really a permanent problem just going to be a problem for pretty much my entire pregnancy 3) Do I look for a different job that will inevitably give me higher exposure to COVID when one of the big perks of this job was being able to work from home and avoid putting myself at risk 4) Pregnancy discrimination during a job search is super real and so that's another whole discouraging factor in all of this. So I have no solutions to offer but I'm stressed about and probably cry once day specifically about this issue. 

    It totally sounds like that company discriminated against you due to your pregnancy btw. I don't know what to say other than I hope you have better luck moving forward in your job search! Hopefully you will land something great with a company that treats it's women better than that.
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  • wishiwaspreggowishiwaspreggo member
    If you find out the company that offered you a job and rescinded "due to COVID" hires another person in the next couple months I'd go after them. That's illegal and it sounds to me like they're using the pandemic as an excuse.
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  • harpseal135harpseal135 member
    wishiwaspreggo said:
    If you find out the company that offered you a job and rescinded "due to COVID" hires another person in the next couple months I'd go after them. That's illegal and it sounds to me like they're using the pandemic as an excuse.
    Unfortunately "in the next couple of months" a company may say that "things have changed" and may put the job on the market again and go through the hiring process - again.  If someone is hired in that position now, then its a bigger issue. 
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  • holly321holly321 member
    harpseal135 said:
    wishiwaspreggo said:
    If you find out the company that offered you a job and rescinded "due to COVID" hires another person in the next couple months I'd go after them. That's illegal and it sounds to me like they're using the pandemic as an excuse.
    Unfortunately "in the next couple of months" a company may say that "things have changed" and may put the job on the market again and go through the hiring process - again.  If someone is hired in that position now, then its a bigger issue. 
    This.  I lost my job, due to covid.  I 100% think there was more to it.  I think it was a combination of my pay, and that I had young kids.  They took advantage of covid, and a recent buy out and eliminated a lot of positions, many of which had people who had been there for a long time, therefore had lots of vacation weeks, and higher pay, and several women with young kids.  They hired a bunch of people pretty quickly after, with the job duties being slightly restructured.  I spoke with a lawyer, and she said it is almost impossible to do anything about workplace discrimination like that. 
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  • wishiwaspreggowishiwaspreggo member
    Sorry to hear that @holly321 :( I wish there was a way to hold these companies accountable but unfortunately they obviously know how to get around loopholes. A friend of mine got fired from her job after her annual review because they asked her what her plans were in the next 5 years and she expressed ambitions of moving beyond her receptionist role. They wanted to fire and replace her before she could leave the job for something better later on. Still makes me mad and it didn't even happen to me. Big corporations have way too much leeway to treat their employees like trash.
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  • holly321holly321 member
    @wishiwaspreggo while I think it is ridiculous what happened,  I will say it ended up being a blessing in disguise.  It had been great being home, and Dh got promoted so, it all worked out. 
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