Plenty of Options for Women Returning to Work

After a career break returning to work can seem daunting. It doesn’t have to be anymore. Excerpts from Business Standard.

In India, about one third of employed women will take a break in their career. Most often it is to have a child, to bring them up, or to care for an aged parent. Typically, they stay out of work for about a year, which is much shorter compared to women elsewhere. German women stay out of work for an average 2 years, while in the US it’s close to 3 years.

Most of these women desire to return to the workface once their responsibilities are over. Unfortunately, only about 60% are able to. The rest of them continue to remain without a job.

The scenario is changing. Today, many companies are proactively seeking women to return to the work force. Called Returnship programs, companies have carved out specific initiatives that will help them transition. They offer training, flexible working hours and reskilling to make the way back easy for these women.

Take for instance, Cognizant. It has a paid, 12-week Returnship Program that offers a supportive environment for reskilling returnees to get them ready. Meant for slightly senior executives, your break should have been at least 2 years.

Allcargo Logistics has a Restart Program that offers project-based assignments for those who are not yet ready to join a full-time job. This is very effective especially as it allows both employee and employer to gauge one another’s commitment.

Impelsys wants to increase the percentage of women in their organization to 40%, from the current 31%. They are doing so by actively seeking spouses of current employees, to offer them jobs that match their skills.

Amazon’s Rekindle Program helps women reintegrate into corporate careers by preparing them for the job interview and offering mentorship with their company leaders. Additionally, employees can access Amazon’s wide network of child care providers at specially discounted rates. Designated Mothers’ Rooms enables women to take short breaks during working hours to feed their babies.

Likewise, Microsoft’s Springboard program helps women with a minimum 4 years work experience, in relaunching their careers. They are given complex projects to solve in real time, after which they are offered a mentorship with the company’s leaders. Candidates are then matched to vacancies in Microsoft India.

In IBM’s Tech Re-Entry Program even those with a 20-year break can apply. Like the others this is also a paid program, and offers projects to work on. Trainees are made to work with the latest technologies, and across various disciplines.

Accenture’s Return to Work program is meant for those who have taken a break for 18 months, or more. A 16-week paid program, it targets technology professionals and upskills then on cloud, AI, and DevOps followed by a mentorship.

Similarly, Paypal’s Recharge India program is a 6-week skill building program for those working in finance. Thousands are known to apply for these programs and few eventually get inducted into the companies.

But take heart, there are many such opportunities coming up for women considering a career, again.

So as not to get overwhelmed, it is wise to take a small step and see how confident you feel about it. There are grooming courses, free webinars and internship opportunities.

infyni offers a range of live coaching classes from ‘how to use body language’ and ‘Advanced Excel’ to Artificial Intelligence and Tableau. Courses that suit every budget. We hand hold you through the process until you feel confident enough to start applying for jobs.

Call us to help you identify where to start. Or drop us a mail at: info@infyni.com and we can guide you to the right course.

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