With today’s career models evolving over time, it is becoming common for women to take a career break for various reasons such as maternity leave, to care for their family or even further their studies. According to the latest thought leadership report Understanding Employers’ Attitudes Towards Women Returning To Work from Robert Walters, two-thirds of the women surveyed in have taken a career break at some point in their lives while 46% of hiring managers in Asia have not employed any returning women in the past year.
The thought leadership report has been created to assist employers in Asia to identify and address any possible biases in recruitment and inclusion to ensure women are given the opportunity to re-gain entry into the workforce after a career gap. It also provides recommendations on what organisations can do to change the current attitudes of how returning women are perceived and treated in the workplace in Hong Kong and Asia. The survey gathered the views of over 2,200 clients and female professionals across China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Over the years there have been concerns voiced by Hong Kong employers when considering whether to hire returning women include how these women might lack knowledge of the latest industry trends or will not be fully committed to their jobs. Looking beyond these perceptions, 55% of hiring managers in Asia agreed that specific job experience or skills are the biggest benefits which returning women can bring to the workplace.
Matthew Bennett, Managing Director, Robert Walters Greater China commented, “We found that in Hong Kong and across Asia, the capability of women professionals is often questioned once they take maternity leave, or have significant lapses in their career trajectories. When recruiting this group of talent, we would strongly encourage HR and hiring managers to remain objective and provide them with a level-playing field in order to unlock their full potential.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
