Large corporate firms such as KPMG and Morgan Stanley are now looking for women who left their careers to have a family and who are now considering re joining the workforce. These prospective employees are considered perfect as their skills and knowledge are valued and flexible working becomes easier to offer.

Historically women who left employment to have children 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 deal with. Often women would work evenings in a retail situation or more recently in some sort of call centre, operating in a customer care environment, as these roles were the main ones with flexibility. Opportunities were also offered in the “party selling” type roles with the likes of Avon and Tupperware. Again these were attractive to returning mothers as they permitted a high degree of flexibility and the capacity to Work From Home.

There has always been a call for extra retail cover, especially in the lead up to Christmas and this again has been a place where women returning to work after having a child have found opportunities, particularly over the last 20 years as late night shopping and Sunday shopping has become the rule. But even with respectable employers such as the ones named so far the flexible roles on offer until recently have not been career type ones. They have been simply a way of adding further income to the family coffers and have given women with a rather static role.

With the enhancement of technology and the advent of the Internet Business all this is now altering. We see the large organizations such as Barclays and Morgan Stanley actually making a conscious effort to recruit mothers back into the workplace and not only that, but the roles on offer are at a much higher level than those offered before.

This type of development is due in part to the arrival of broadband, offering very quick download speeds to most of the country which in turn has allowed remote working to become an opportunity. The opportunity to work from home or at a satellite office near to home instead of travel into the city is a big advantage for a lot of women with child care to deal with. Local school runs can still be dealt with and the travelling distance to an office is cut out altogether meaning that the actual time spent “at work” is totally constructive and there is more time for family life.

Another side of the changing business picture that has offered opportunities for mothers to return to work in high flying jobs is the growth of many internet businesses. These typically operate without a definite physical base and the majority of staff are able to work from home on Online Jobs using all the online technologies available and being developed.

It is therefore clear to see why the larger organizations are tapping into this rich seam of ability, as it gives them with the opportunity to get hold of individuals with a high skill level who require no more than some refresher training to be fully functional. It will be interesting to see if some of the SME’s start to appreciate this potential too and take advantage when the job vacancy numbers swell following the countries pull away from recession.

Filed under: Business and Management