Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the world of work, the survey was conducted by JobsForHer in association with SPJIMR, to assess the growing need to upskill before getting back to work after a career break. 60% of women out of 2000 respondents who took the survey indicated that reskilling/upskilling is the preferred path they would take to restart their career. This is a dramatic increase to the results last year, when only 30% of women indicated that they would prefer to upgrade their skills before they set foot into the workforce again in the same survey conducted in November 2019. The results mirror the stark contrast between working trends before and after the pandemic brought about a sea change in the way corporate India has addressed the impact of the crisis.
Other options in the survey were:
Asking for referrals & recommendations – 44%
Apply to jobs at previous employers – 28%
Networking & career counselling -34%
Indicative of the changing patterns in the professional world, it is imperative that women stay updated with current trends and upskill to acquire relevant skill sets. This would also largely help in ensuring that they get equal opportunities in leadership roles. Women who take a break from their jobs, for whatever reasons, often find it difficult to come back into the corporate leadership pipeline. The primary reason for this is the lack of proper upskilling options available to women that help them bridge the knowledge gap that could appear in the years away from work.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Neha Bagaria, Founder & CEO of JobsForHer, said, “It is time to correct the imbalance in the Indian workforce by enabling women to rejoin the workforce and upskilling is a critical part of that restart journey. It is heartening to see that women returnees have realized the importance of upskilling and that partners are providing customized solutions to meet their needs.”
With more companies now looking at women leadership as a crucial part of diverse teams within the organisation, it’s important to have management programmes that help bring women up to speed and join the corporate workforce.
Online and Offline courses
There is an upsurge in the number of online courses being offered in practically every stream, starting from IT to content writing and marketing to finance and data science. So much so, you can also get a management degree when you plan to return from a career break from prestigious B-Schools in India, like Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s SP Jain Institute Of Management And Research (SPJIMR), whose Post Graduate Management Programme for Women is curated specifically for women who wish to upskill themselves and return to the corporate world with confidence.
“Dr. Ashita Aggarwal, Professor of Marketing and Chairperson, PGMPW, says, “Ever since its inception in 2017, more than 100 women have reentered the corporate world after a break. Every year more and more women are wanting to upskill The PGMPW program is one of its kind in the world and gives customized themselves and realize their dream of bouncing back to professional careers, mentorship and training to students” As a platform for women to relaunch their careers, the SPJIMR programme works with the backing of a globally-recognised institution and partnerships with various corporate organisations.
We look forward to having more women start, restart and rise in their careers with plenty of opportunities to upskill and reskill their way into the workforce despite the pandemic.
