Two topics are cropping up again and again in my conversations with customers. Gender, and in particular the Gender Pay Gap but also talent shortages, too few good people to fill key roles.
Perhaps an area for organisations to focus is mums looking to re-enter employment but there are some huge obstacles for this group to overcome which are highlighted in the attached article. For instance A Harvard Business Review article reported employers are half as likely to interview stay-at-home parents than parents who were laid off. MMB magazine’s Coleman says there are many flexible jobs, but not flexible careers. There tend to be more part-time jobs for less than £20,000 but there are not many part-time or flexible jobs that pay from £25,000 to £80,000.
There are a growing number of firms who support the companies and mums connect and deal with some of the challenges. Examples are MojoMums in the UK or reacHIRE in the USA.
Probably not the whole answer but its a start and may help on the Gender Pay Gap as well!
It’s a familiar story. Mothers who take a break in their careers to raise children. They are ready to return to work, but face a bias from employers and concerns over the gap in their work history. And stay-at-home mothers often have difficulty returning in a senior position or at the salary level they were at when they left — especially for those seeking flexible work. However, staffing firms, training companies and career websites have emerged with the mission of helping mothers return to the workforce. They’ll help connect workers with jobs, help with planning to help mothers back into the workforce, provide training, and even educating companies on the benefits of hiring returners to the workforce.
http://sireview.staffingindustry.com/2018/04/10/re-enter-moms/
