How to... help women return to work

More than 500,000 women in the UK want to return to work after having children but can’t find suitable jobs, resulting in a huge untapped pool of talent. A Women Like Us survey focusing on retention rates among women placed in part-time or flexible jobs showed that 87 per cent were still there beyond the crucial three-month point. This supports independent research which has found that people who work flexibly are more satisfied with their jobs and less likely to quit. But HR practitioners remain unsure about how to bring their flexible working policies to life and, as a result, struggle to attract skilled candidates seeking a return to work after a maternity break.