Women returning from career breaks can fill skills gaps

Women who have taken a break from their career can make a huge contribution to individual businesses and fill the skills gaps faced by employers.

The latest Robert Walters Empowering Women in the Workplace research on Attracting, Developing and Retaining Women Returning to the Workforce, explores key ways employers can attract talented professionals returning after a career break.

 

Developing effective strategies for attracting women returning to the workforce begins with understanding what motivates them to return, what they look for in a job and what they want from an employer after a career break. 

Competitive pay is important

The whitepaper, created from surveying over 1000 professionals, revealed that salary is a key priority - 90% of women ranked a high salary as important when they returned to work after a career break. 

Companies who can offer competitive packages are more likely to attract and secure the most talented women when they return to work. 

Promote flexibility

The survey also highlighted that 79% of women said that finding a job with greater flexibility was a top priority, and 52% changed industry or profession to find a more family friendly employer.

Hiring targets help to do something different

Having targets prompts companies to look at hiring differently, and can start the right conversation about pipelines, development and training programmes but it doesn't mean you give jobs to candidates who dont deserve it. Flexibility is the number one thing that needs to change to attract female professionals. Corporations aren’t flexible enough in where, when and how people work.

It isnt about choosing a woman for a role if she isn't the best candidate, instead targets promoting female hires should make companies work harder to develop current female employees to reach senior roles. 

Then use these instances as case studies for other talented professionals to highlight where women have progressed to within the company. 

Download a copy of the latest whitepaper Attracting and Engaging Women Returning to the Workplace.  

Learn about future Women in the Workplace events here.