Tips for getting women back in the workforce after COVID-triggered disruption

To call what COVID-19 has done to the workforce a disruption is certainly an understatement. But now in the third year of the pandemic, employers and employees are going ahead with efforts to return to the workplace—at least part of the time. Barriers remain, however. Women, especially, face obstacles since so many left the workforce during the height of the pandemic either to care for children out of school and daycare or because they didn’t feel safe at work because of the virus. But employers can take action to help on two fronts: solving their own labor shortage and helping people feel comfortable returning to work.

Don’t let résumé gaps thwart efforts

One change that can help both employers and potential employees: getting over the bias against people who have had breaks in employment. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many jobseekers were frustrated because of a tendency for employers to reject people who have been unemployed for a time.

Maybe a mother has taken a career break to raise children or to be a caregiver for a family member. Or maybe someone has left the workforce to pursue a nonwork-related opportunity. Whatever the reason, a résumé gap often dooms a jobseeker’s chances.

It may be a change in attitude or just a desperation for workers, but many employers are starting to be more accepting of career breaks since COVID prompted so many people to reevaluate their priorities, fueling the phenomenon called the “Great Resignation.”