Majority of women fear taking a career break

The survey was conducted at a Women in Business Conference and received more than 2000 responses from women. It also revealed that nearly half of those questioned expected to have between four and six career changes over their lifetime.

For women, taking a career break generally means taking time off for maternity leave or stepping back from the workplace to look after children. The high levels of anxiety around this are unsurprising, says Elisabeth Tosti, President of UNI Europa Professionals and Managers’ Group.

"Career breaks are a fantastic tool to allow workers to take time out of the office for family, children, study, travel or a whole host of other reasons, but represent an advance into the unknown for many women. Once you've invested many years in a career, figuring out how to take time out and then return to a role that's comparable to the one you left, or as comparable as you want it to be, requires more than confidence and enthusiasm. Employers need to actively acknowledge the benefits of such breaks and be more receptive to those seeking to return."

"Career breaks are a fantastic tool to allow workers to take time out of the office for family, children, study, travel or a whole host of other reasons, but represent an advance into the unknown for many women."

Last year, research from the British Labour Party suggested that up to 50,000 women had been forced out of the workplace after taking time out for maternity leave. Author and broadcaster, Selena Rezvani, says employers underestimate the support women returning to work need.

"No one talks enough about the hit your confidence takes when you become a mother and then attempt to reintegrate professionally. It is almost politically incorrect to say that some women might lose confidence as new mums. But for most women, we barely we feel we’ve mastered one realm of life (mothering) when it’s time to add a challenging new variable to the mix (heading back to work)."

"If someone takes time out from their job to do something considered enriching, such as a sabbatical to travel the world, time off to get a doctoral degree, we congratulate that person heartily upon their return to work. When a new mum comes back to work, the short time she was given off is often viewed as a tremendous act of generosity from her employer’s perspective. What’s more, her own shaky confidence may be weakened if colleagues treat her like she’s compromised in some way."

However, taking a career break doesn’t have to be a bad experience. Iram Nawaz took three years off after the birth of her first child and used that time to consolidate what she actually wanted to do.

"I found that working in a client-first IT consultancy industry and being a mum wasn’t compatible so I had no choice but to quit my job. I found the change in circumstances hard to get used to but that time out helped me decide what I really wanted from a career. I started a few small projects for charity, wanting to give something back to my community and from there I grew my own business."

"People can think that taking a career break is the end of your career but it isn’t. Instead you’ve got the time work out what you actually want to do with your life."

"People can think that taking a career break is the end of your career but it isn’t. Instead you’ve got the time work out what you actually want to do with your life."

Taking a career break isn’t limited to having children. Former banker and entrepreneur, Bridget Bakokdie is on her second career break. Having quit her job in banking to go travelling she returned and started working for a film production company. She has now taken another break to launch her own business.

"When I returned from travelling I was worried that I wouldn’t find another job but I contacted everyone I knew, sent my CV around everywhere and ended up with exactly the role I wanted. From the employer’s point of view you’re more likely to want to hire someone who’s had some time out and tasted quality of life, rather than someone who’s just desperate to get out of their current role."

"If I ever decided that I want to go back to a more formal working environment I look at it as, they’re getting someone with 10 years of corporate finance experience plus the ability to take risks, who has great contacts within the entrepreneurial world. For me, this career break only adds more skills to my CV."

Rezvani agrees. For all the fears about what taking a break will do for your career on returning to work, she says, "your confidence can reach unprecedented levels. It doesn’t mean you don’t deal with unpleasant feelings like guilt too, but your confidence can mushroom with time, support, others normalising your experience, and accepting that you aren’t any longer who you used to be, but that you now have a new, more multifaceted identity."

UNI Europa P&M Presdient, Elisabeth Tosti, concludes by emphasising the vital role that trade unions can play, “Unions have the ability to pursue a dual pronged approach that includes securing and enforcing stronger legal safeguards, and also negotiating progressive clauses into collectively agreements. Women, and professional women in particular, stand to gain so much from being in a union and being able to balance their personal and professional commitments.”

More information can be found about UNI Global Union’s activities on equal opportunities and services for professionals and managers at: www.uniglobalunion.org