More women decide to enter the world of contracting after finishing their maternity leave, finds new report.
The report, carried out by recruitment firm Robert Half, surveyed 200 HR directors in UK companies in June of this year, and found that the majority of female employees (83%) who return to work, move into part-time and/or flexible working roles after maternity leave.
The figure rises to 92% of employees in London and the South East, but falls to 70% in the North and Scotland and 78% in the Midlands.
According to the Robert Half survey, when maternity leave has ended, female managers are more likely to return to work than female staff-level workers. Over half (51%) say that more than 50% of female managers return to work after maternity leave, compared to just 40% who report that the same proportion of staff level employees return.
The report also found that almost three-quarters (71%) of HR directors say that they already have arrangements to provide this benefit, while a further 13% are planning to put them in place.
Director of Robert Half UK, Estelle James, said, "It bodes well for businesses that such a high proportion of new mums now want to return to work, particularly those in a management role.
“The majority of HR directors in our survey understand that female returners want to come back to work in a flexible, part-time or job sharing capacity, so it's good to see that they have already put measures in place to provide these opportunities – or plan to in the future. Hopefully this will support women in business as we look to get more female representation in executive and board-level roles."
Simon Dolan is the Sales & Marketing Manager for Contractor Umbrella Ltd, one of the UK’s Most Respected Umbrella Companies and founder member of AllUmbrellaCompaniesAreEqual.
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