By Natashia Moosa – LLB; Corporate Law; LDRP; POPIA; Compliance Management Commercial Manager at Workforce Staffing Africa and Middle East
The shortage of skilled workers in South Africa is no longer limited to highly specialised fields. In sectors such as finance and engineering as well as in technology and professional services, employers are having to compete for experienced personnel while at the same time struggling to fill key vacancies. Nevertheless, one of the country’s most valuable sources of talent is still being neglected: women who are going back to work after maternity leave or after taking extended breaks from their careers to look after their families.
With the debate about workforce participation and gender equality becoming more and more active, employers now have the chance to reconsider the way in which they attract and retain experienced women.
Across the world, studies continuously show that women’s income and their career advancement tend to decrease after they have children, which means that motherhood plays a major role in the continued existence of the gender pay gap – this is often referred to as “the motherhood penalty”. However, in a nation facing serious shortages of skilled workers, helping mothers to get back into work has turned into an issue of workforce sustainability that has a direct impact on business growth and on long-term competitiveness.
Looking beyond the career break
A common misconception concerning women who go back to work is that the time they have away from work means their capabilities have decreased. Although it is important to keep up one’s technical knowledge, concentrating only on the interruption in employment ignores the considerable value that many women acquire when looking after their families.
The qualities of resilience, adaptability, emotional intelligence, prioritisation and problem-solving are all ones that are developed and enhanced by caring for others, and they are just as valuable in the modern work environment. Together with any prior professional experience, such transferable skills can enable people who have taken a break to become very effective employees. Businesses that are dealing with continuous difficulties in finding suitable staff simply cannot afford to ignore these experienced applicants, because the care they have given to others in recent times is their most recent experience.
Redefining what success looks like
With an increasing number of organisations getting employees to return to the office, a new problem has appeared: the ‘proximity penalty’. Those employees who work in a flexible or remote manner become less visible and therefore have a lower chance of being given promotions, being chosen for important projects or being considered for leadership roles.
Performance ought to be judged in terms of outcomes, contribution and results rather than in terms of being physically present. For a great many working mothers, flexibility is not a benefit offered by the workplace; it is what enables them to keep their jobs. Companies which reward performance rather than visibility are more likely to hold on to skilled professionals and thus create a more inclusive and equitable working environment.
Creating meaningful pathways back into employment
It takes more than just flexible policies to support women who are going back to work. Employers should set up structured return-to-work programmes which include mentorship, opportunities to refresh their skills, project-based tasks, and clear routes to permanent employment. Such programmes will help professionals regain their confidence, update their technical knowledge and reestablish contact with the workplace after a long absence.
Temporary Employment Services (TES) companies can likewise make an important contribution to filling the gap between career interruptions and long-term employment. By means of targeted job placements, providing opportunities for skills development and offering flexible working arrangements, TES providers assist experienced women in rejoining the labour market while at the same time giving employers access to skilled professionals who might otherwise go unnoticed. They are also in a good position to recognise the transferable skills acquired through caregiving and to match them with the present demands of the workforce.
A business opportunity hiding in plain sight
The idea of having a resilient workforce is based on acknowledging the realities of modern caregiving; flexible and hybrid working arrangements, phased return-to-work programmes, mentorship opportunities and transparent performance management all help to improve employee retention and enable career progression.
It is now unnecessary to debate whether or not mothers can go back to work since they already do; the real issue is whether or not employers are ready to set up situations in which capable women will be able to keep on growing, leading and achieving success without motherhood acting as a hindrance to their progress in their careers.
Since South Africa is still facing serious shortages of skilled workers, getting experienced women back into the workforce has gone well beyond being merely a diversity effort; it has become a sound business strategy which helps to strengthen talent pipelines, enhances workforce resilience and allows organisations to keep the experienced personnel they need if they are to succeed in a more competitive economy.
