[cajobportal insights] Are you mobile ??

"Are you mobile" is the first question in the interview process of most companies today.

NO as an answer is an absolute deal-breaker 

You can't have a progressive career if you have location constraints

In this context, let me share a story which we shared on social media today and got sizeable traction, with comments/views pouring in dozens

3 sons | Chartered Accountants/MBAs | Financial Controllers in MNCs in different cities | Earning 1.5 crores p.a. in between themselves

Wow..so far so good 

Lonely Parents in Kolkata | Not in the pink of health | Get a chance to meet sons and grandchildren twice or thrice a year | 

What a tragic state of affairs

We wonder ??? ???? ??? ??? ???? (whats the point of earning this money)

As a society, we've been grappling with this dilemma of having to silently see Homes being converted into Old Age Homes, especially in Tier 2/3 cities or even economic laggard Tier 1 cities like Kolkata

If the kids have got super jobs in different cities, the traditional family rubric has been completely shaken

We have : 

a) Parents who've graduated comfortably into the Skype/Face-time mode and ok with the tech enabled interaction 

b) Parents who have quit their jobs and shifted with their kids; even if it means risking social isolation in a new unknown city. Some of them still struggling to find their feet in the new social norms, others luckily have forged new deep-shallow genuine-superficial bonds in housing societies/complexes of Mumbais, Delhis and Bengalarus

c) Parents who've correctly or otherwise held steadfast on their belief that they would not be able to adjust in a new city after spending 50 years somewhere else. And since they don't want to be seen as villains in the career growth story, have reconciled themselves to having kids visit them as guests occasionally. 

And maybe even if they want, the kiddo is not willing to sacrifice and play the role of the proverbial Shravan Kumar. Maybe he/she is gripped by the Fear of Missing Out on the dollars front 

So many dilemmas !! And not sure how this will evolve going forward

Now that's the price we are paying for globalization and all its attendant benefits. 

What's your view on this?