Returnships are short, paid internships for professional women who have had a long career break and are returning to work in mid- to senior-level positions. Talented women can restart their careers by choosing a returnship with an organisation that recognises the value that work experience brings, especially in the tech space. With the support of returnships, women returning to the workforce can quickly resume their management positions while refreshing their skills and receiving the necessary mentoring. IBM, Delloitte, Amazon and Paypal are just a few companies that are successfully using returnships to bring tech skills back into the workplace.
RecruitMyMom recently interviewed Tamsin Bramford, a Fullstack Developer who recently completed a returnship with a tech company in the Western Cape. Tamsin studied a BComm in Strategic Management with a strong focus on how information technology can be used as a strategic weapon in business. After her studies, Tamsin was hired at a tech company through a Graduate Recruitment Programme, and she was upskilled as a programmer. Tamsin worked for many years before welcoming her first child. “After having my first child, I realised I wanted to take some time off to be a mother.” Tamsin took a twenty-year break and decided this year she wanted to return to the workforce.
Returnships are more of a bridge back into a career than a ladder. Most women who have previously held mid to senior positions would feel uncomfortable and demotivated if they were to start from the bottom of the organisational ladder once more.
“Getting back into the workplace was admittedly a huge hurdle, especially in the tech industry, but I was so wrong,” Tamsin says of returning to work. “Technology had changed a lot, but the fundamentals of a project had not.” She says there are the same issues and the same project flow; once you learn one programme language, it is easy to learn another. Returnships give women the chance to update their technical skills in the workplace.
The benefits of returnships for business
Returnships provide many advantages to businesses, particularly when hiring at more senior levels. Even though a person may have been out of work for several years, the expertise and skills they acquired prior to their sabbatical are extremely valuable.
By incorporating returnships, employers have access to an often-overlooked talent pool. Many skilled women want to get back into the workforce after raising children, but they are hesitant to do so or don’t know how to go about it. These individuals have excelled in their careers but lack the up-to-date tech skills and often the self-confidence to jump back in. These individuals require less training and a shorter time to get set up in the workplace. Tamsin’s returnship lasted two months before she was confident enough to take on her own projects, but returnships generally last between three and six months.
Employers save on training costs and remuneration as work re-entry employees are willing to accept lower wages or no wages for the duration of the contract. Tamsin admitted that her unpaid returnship took the pressure off as she upskilled to where she needed to be as a Full Stack Developer.
There is a low-risk factor with this programme as companies have no obligation to hire the employee once the contract has ended.
An interesting upside to returnships is the increase in diversity, equity and inclusion. In 2021, the food delivery app Grubhub introduced a returnship program. The programme notably increased their diversity and their bottom line. Last year, PepsiCo Beverages introduced a returnship programme aimed at recruiting women who had taken time off to care for their children. This year, PepsiCo has expanded the programme as a result of the unprecedented success seen in the first year.
Talented women in their forties and fifties returning to the workforce after an extended career break bring with them a maturity, a calm, and a wealth of knowledge and work experience. Older women working alongside younger employees create a lovely dynamic within the workplace and an enriched team with a good mix of skills.
Returnships provide an opportunity for reverse mentorship, which is invaluable in closing the skills gap. Tamsin shares, “Having worked in a large corporate environment, I had so much experience on what can go wrong on a project and what is required or expected - that is something I could bring to my younger team.” She goes on to share an example where a young colleague asked her what “scope creep” was. Tamsin was able to enlighten her colleague with her experience.
Read: Tapping Into The Skills Labour Pool Of Working Moms
With the right support structures in place, any company can offer a successful returnship programme which is a great tool if you're having trouble finding job candidates with particular skill sets or if you want to cast the widest possible net. We can assist you in determining your needs and setting up an appropriate programme.
RecruitMyMom is committed to assisting skilled women to find quality of life through integrating their careers into their lives by offering a variety of jobs and returnship programmes. Speak to us if you are looking to hire top female talent for gender diversity jobs.
Watch: RecruitMyMom’s interview with Tamsin Bamford
