Fatma’s working life began at the age of 10 in Hatay, where she worked in fields cultivating crops such as cotton, tomatoes, and peppers, raw materials used in vegetable production and textile manufacturing.
In 1988, at the age of 14, she migrated to Istanbul to further her career. There, she began working as a blue-collar worker at a fabric dyeing factory (a factory that no longer exists), earning a monthly wage of 75 TL. However, just 45 days later, she returned to Hatay, her birthplace and the city where she had first started working, due to family reasons.
After getting married in Hatay, she engaged in farming and livestock raising, during which time she paid social security premiums under the farmers' scheme (Bağ-Kur). Later, she opened a small döner shop and switched to the tradesperson's social security scheme; however, she was forced to close the business due to financial difficulties.
In 2024, she continued her working life by serving tables at a döner shop. After paying insurance premiums for her children for four years, she retired. She is currently a homemaker and receives a pension of 23,500 TL.
Sadly, they lost their shop, their home, and their loved ones in the devastating earthquake of February 6, 2023; however, her husband has since opened a large new döner shop. Fatma occasionally goes to help her husband at the shop, though she primarily focuses on housework. Although her formal career may appear to have ended, being a homemaker is also a form of dedicated, voluntary work.