Babies in the Office - TV review
The very idea of taking a baby into the office, and letting it stay at your desk, all day, just seems like a disaster waiting to happen.
The very idea of taking a baby into the office, and letting it stay at your desk, all day, just seems like a disaster waiting to happen.
How could you do any work, concentrate on phone calls, or have a half-way meaningful conversation with another adult, let alone your boss?
Surely there's work life and there's home life and never the twain should meet.
But in the US there are 170 firms which have thrown this concept out with the bath-water and now allow their employees to bring their little treasures into the workplace.
Where our American cousins go, we in the UK shall surely follow and first to take up this corporate childcare challenge is Addison Lee.
It's the country's largest minicab firm and with 5,000 employees – mostly male – it seems a strange place to start.
But its managing director Liam seems a forward-thinking chap and we get to be yet another fly on yet another set of walls as eight of his staff bring their little cherubs into work for a day.
Their reasons for wanting to try out this migraine-inducing, multi-tasking mission vary.
But essentially it comes down to trying to combat exorbitant childcare fees and wanting to spend more time with their youngsters. As they roll up to their desks with buggies laden down with nappy bags, bottles and toys, we hear from some of the sceptics as well as those who are championing the project.
Heading up the kids' camp is perky Clare from human resources, who is managing the pilot and has something of a vested interest as she is hoping to have children herself sometime soon.
But dour Kevin in courier services has concerns it may damage the firm's brand image and in the geezer-infested sales department there are worries targets may be hit.
Sweetly, car control manager Paul has been given a list from his wife, setting out a timetable for their 11-month-old daughter's day.
But it's his day which fails to go to plan as by 10am he's only managed to log on to his computer and is already an hour behind schedule.
Over in finance, Monica, the lone woman in that office, is forced to off-load much of her work onto colleagues and even then finds she is so behind schedule it looks as if the firm's 3,500 drivers may not get their pay on time.
In the calls centre, a pregnant Aida is struggling too with feisty 22-month-old Amira, who is screaming the place down as only a bored, teething toddler can.
She ends up throwing in the towel at 4pm and heads home defeated.
But things are now going better for Paul and he says that when he can turn his attention to work he is finding he is more focussed – probably helped by the fact his daughter is now slumbering peacefully under his desk.
And Monica gets a similar helping hand as her baby Natasha also falls asleep allowing her to get on with paying out the wages just in time.
But with the sales team's targets down and the call centre dealing with fewer customers on the day, big boss Liam and perky Clare head Stateside to find out how the scheme can be a success.
Buoyed by promises that it means the firm keeps trained and experienced staff in the long term, the pair return with news that they will roll out the scheme for an entire month.
But with part two of the firm's journey concluding tonight, it remains to be seen if it will all end in tears.