The term "keyworker"

[Neoncoral]

ABIU to think that the label "keyworker" is now redundant? For quite a while now, a lot of people have been back at work, keyworker or not. The first lockdown it made sense as the lockdown all felt so scary and real, almost movie like and those having to venture out to keep key services going were just that "key".

But when I hear people refer to themselves now as a keyworker my inner self cringes for them.

I write this as someone who works in an essential frontline service.

I never understood it. I don't think it really means "worker whose contribution is vital to keep society going". But that definition bankers are more important than teachers.

I think the majority of key/critical workers cringe a bit because it sounds like we think we’re more important than others (which I don’t think we really do think at all). At the start though, key workers were genuinely feeling like they were putting their lives at risk and I felt huge guilt “choosing” my career over staying home and caring for my dc. A year on, it’s totally meaningless.

There was so much nastiness against critical workers who weren’t doctors or nurses. The government sees my job as essential but acquaintances openly questioned me on it clearly having no clue what I do (I shared the “incident control room manager” role on a rota on top of my normal essential hospital role, so essentially helping to manage a Hospital’s covid response but I was told by another primary school mum that she didn’t understand why I couldn’t work from home). The judgment was hideous.

Key workers work at Timpsons.