Working Mothers Are Now Ideal Workers For the Large Corporates As Well As The Typical Christmas Retail Roles
Large corporate firms such as KPMG and Morgan Stanley are now seeking out women who left their careers to have a family and who are now considering re joining the labour force. These budding employees are considered ideal as their skills and knowledge are esteemend and flexible working becomes easier to provide.
Historically women who left work to have a family had little choice when they decided to return to the workplace as flexibility of hours to fit in with nursery and school times was very hard to provide. Often women would work evenings in a retail setting or more recently in some type of call centre, operating in a customer care environment, as these positions were the main ones with an element of flexibility. Opportunities were also available in the “party selling” type roles with the likes of Avon and Tupperware. Again these were attractive to returning mums as they allowed a high degree of flexibility and the capacity to .
There has always been a demand for extra retail cover, particularly in the lead up to Christmas and this again has been an area where women returning to work after having children have found opportunities, particularly over the last 20 years as evening shopping and Sunday shopping has become the norm. But even with good employers such as the ones named so far the flexible positions on offer until recently have not been career type ones. They have been simply a way of adding extra income to the family coffers and have given women with a rather static role.
With the development of technology and the arrival of the all this is now changing. We see the large businesses such as Barclays and Morgan Stanley actually making a definite effort to employ mothers back into the workplace and not only that, but the positions on offer are at a much higher level than those offered before.
This form of development is due in part to the advent of broadband, giving very quick download speeds to the majority of the country which in turn has allowed remote working to become a possibility. The opportunity to work from home or at a satellite office close to home rather than travel into the city is a big advantage for a lot of women with child care to take into account. Local school runs can still be dealt with and the travelling distance to an office is cut out altogether meaning that the real time spent “at work” is totally constructive and there is more time for family life.
Another aspect of the changing business picture that has provided opportunities for mothers to return to work in high flying jobs is the progression of many internet businesses. These normally operate without a definite physical base and the majority of employees are able to work from home on using all the online technologies available and being developed.
It is therefore evident why the larger organizations are tapping into this rich seam of ability, as it offers them with the opportunity to get hold of individuals with a high skill level who need no more than some refresher training to be fully functional. It will be interesting to see if some of the SME’s start to understand this potential too and take advantage when the job vacancy numbers rise following the countries pull away from recession.
