Women still face back-to-work barriers

Three-quarters of women felt workplaces were still too inflexible for them to return to after they had taken an extended career break, to have children for example, a study has found.

This is despite “lots of noise and activity going on” around helping women back into the workforce, said Lisa Unwin, founder of She’s Back — a new organisation set up to connect women returners and employers.

Further findings from the study, conducted with more than 1,000 women by She’s Back, showed that the impact of cultural barriers were wide-reaching. The vast majority of women (84%) who have taken a break from work are keen to re-enter the jobs market, results showed.

The most popular reason for leaving careers, given by 70% of the survey respondents, was a family-related issue. And a number of respondents told researchers that their workplace was so inflexible that they had decided to leave their jobs in preparation for having children.

A culture of understanding among managers was highlighted as critical for a successful re-entry into the workplace, the study found. Nine in 10 (88%) of respondents said a manager who wanted them to succeed was the most important reason for them to come back to work.

www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2015/05/05/inflexible-cultures-still-blocking-women-keen-to-return-to-work-finds-study.aspx