New pathways to women’s workforce reintegration

Indra Nooyi famously said, in 2014, that the biological and career clocks of women are at odds with each other. The prime years for building the careers of women (25 to 50) are also the years when they are having children, bringing them up and taking care of their ageing parents. All of that care-giving mostly falls on the women and each exit out of the workforce, for however brief a period, takes a toll on the woman’s career. This was certainly true a few decades ago but it might be time to question that narrative in the world of today when we are in the midst of an extraordinary transition that involves rapidly increasing life expectancy. A child born today in the West has over a 50% likelihood of reaching the age of 105 or beyond. In 2014, that number was 78. This shift has phenomenal implications for how we design our lives and our workplaces.

This could be a tremendous opportunity for us to redesign our workplaces on two counts – to not only accommodate women’s unique career trajectories but also take advantage of that difference. In the current workspace, careers are commonly portrayed as consisting of two stages: one, there is a gradual ascent towards financial growth, recognition, and authority; this is followed by an extended period of sustained endeavour in positions of power and in some cases, service to others. Both men and women pay a high price for taking a break from their careers. This trajectory has been termed as the ‘norm.’ On the other hand, women’s professional journeys have been characterised by multiple entries and exits in the professional world. A UK-based national study of 2,000 people that was conducted by Applied, a recruitment firm, revealed that women were three times more likely than men to take a career break; this was attributed to caregiving duties they take up. This was also corroborated by a McKinsey and Company study which found that women were more likely to experience career interruptions. The study said 43% of highly qualified women leave their careers temporarily at some point.

Women’s careers are, thus, less linear and more ‘curved,’ but once their caregiving priorities are fulfilled, they are raring to join back the workforce. If a woman were to re-enter the workforce at 45 years, she still has about 25 to 30 years to reach leadership positions. The recent ranking in the FORBES’ 100 Most Powerful Women List shows that about 80% of them are aged over 50 years, and half of them are aged over 60. Designing and implementing effective returnship pathways might be a silver bullet to take advantage of this large skilled, competent and hungry talent pool.

Issues of parity, pay

It has often been highlighted that when women do return to their workplaces, they are not employed at the levels they left at. Another issue is that they rejoin work with significantly reduced pay. Women struggle with readjusting to the workplace demands and a lack of confidence which in many cases leads to significant attrition. That is true because we continue to use the outmoded design of entry and exit. Notice that I used the term ‘pathway’ and not ‘re-entry’. Think of the situation as re-entering the highway after you stopped for refuelling. It is important that the programme is designed with a linear ramp to ease into the workplace which would be followed by a non-linear career growth.

And as societies try to bridge the gap between men and women’s division of labour within households and communities, even men will require longer breaks and career restarts. Not just working women, but all working parents have been facing this issue. This calls for a revamp within the organisations to tap into the demographic of women who are aged over 40 to 45 who can build a solid career for the next two decades. When organisations learn to change their old, outdated and linear career maps, designed for single-earner men, they can end up discovering a pool of talented women who can bring with them timeless and pragmatic skills of problem-solving, managerial proficiency, and multitasking.

Women who navigate non-linear career paths serve, at once, as role models and mentors. They inspire the younger generations, especially girls, to pursue their ambitions. It also makes economic sense. It is more than well-established that economies benefit when they employ women. In 2015, a report by McKinsey Global Institute suggested that if women participated in the Indian economy at the level men do, the annual GDP of the country could be increased by up to 60% above its projected GDP in 2025. Women are more than ready to invest themselves in organisations, build the economy of the country, and reclaim their autonomy and financial independence. By recognising and valuing the unique skills and perspectives that women bring from their life experiences, we can transform the perceived career discontinuities into opportunities for growth and innovation. But this is a two-way street, and smart companies have already recognised that. It is time for the others to follow suit.

(The writer is the founding CEO of Udaiti Foundation)

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH).