Remote work was a dream until it became the new normal

For Andrew DiDonato, who reviews residential building permits for Philadelphia’s Department of Permits and Inspections, the commute is 45 minutes to an hour each way, depending on train delays.

Until last month, he did that two days a week. On the other three days, DiDonato worked from home.

It was a schedule he never would have imagined before the pandemic, when telecommuting was still something people joked about.

“Like the dream of flying cars,” he says.

As luck would have it, his department was ready to go completely online when the pandemic hit. Just two days before COVID forced offices to briefly close in March 2020, the city launched a new online permit system that had been in the works for years. Instead of having to come in person to apply for permits, residents could now do everything online.

The timing couldn’t have been better for him and the city’s residents, who were all trapped in their homes.

“Within a few months, everyone was using it,” says DiDonato.

He quickly discovered that he could get his work done well even with a hybrid schedule.

He found himself doing a better job as a father. It was a revelation.

Since he no longer had to commute daily, DiDonato no longer had to leave the house every morning before the children were awake.

This opened up more opportunities for his wife Ashley, who had stayed at home since the birth of their third child. She took a part-time job working early mornings at a fitness center.

“It was one of those moments when something perfect falls into your lap,” she says. “It was exactly what I needed.”

Be present at breakfast, homework and afternoon care

Now it was Dad who got the morning started, waking the children, giving them breakfast and talking about the day ahead.

“All these extra conversations I get to have with my kids in the few minutes I’ve been away,” says DiDonato. “I hear what they’re interested in about school and what they’re looking forward to.”

At the end of the working day, instead of having to endure the tiring train ride home, he helped with homework and volunteered in extracurricular clubs. His eldest daughter, ten-year-old Rosalie, took part in the school play, the musical Moana Junior.

DiDonato was able to draw on his many years of experience as a construction worker and built Moana’s boat for the set.

“It was a real, life-sized boat,” says Rosalie, beaming at her father.

The family got used to this more balanced life.

“This wasn’t something we had for a few weeks or months,” says DiDonato. “It was four years.”

And now it’s over. With DiDonato back in the office full-time, Ashley had to reduce her hours at the gym and take a Sunday shift.

“We’re being pushed back into these systems that no longer work for us,” she says. “It feels like we’re taking a step backwards.”