More companies willing to welcome moms back
NEW YORK -- Gina Thoma is taking a year off work to raise a family, but she's still playing the corporate game.
As part of a new program at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the 42-year-old mother of three mingles at company events, checks in with a career coach and attends seminars to keep her accounting skills fresh.
"They're keeping the door open for me, saying they would still like to have me," said Thoma, who quit her job at the financial services firm in January.
Once regarded as a career setback, taking extended time off work to care for children is no longer a liability as businesses fight to hold onto valuable female executives. A growing number of companies are rolling out lavish welcome mats for returning women, offering a spate of options that ease the transition back.
Women might act as "substitutes," or take advantage of free professional courses, networking events and even lactation consultants. Flexible work schedules are more popular too, with many women opting to "phase back" to work after standard or extended maternity leave.
The programs come amid shifting attitudes about balancing work and family. Last month, a study by the Pew Research Center found 60 percent of working mothers now say part-time work is their ideal rather than full-time, compared to 48 percent a decade ago.
The emerging preference for part-time work clashes with reality, however: Three-quarters of working mothers have full-time jobs.
The discrepancy could signal dissatisfaction with work-life arrangements and eventually spur turnover, one of the biggest costs facing companies, said Suzanne Riss, editor-in-chief of Working Mother magazine.
In hopes of preventing an exodus of talent, a growing number of companies are offering ways for new mothers to balance family and work.
However, the programs are typically reserved for a smaller subset of women in managerial or executive positions.
The Full Circle program at PricewaterhouseCoopers lets women take up to five years off (unpaid) while staying connected to the company through mentoring, free training classes and invitations to networking events.
"The message is that leaving is not only OK, but that the company will do everything possible to help them return," said Jennifer Allyn, director of gender retention and advancement at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
At IBM, many women work with managers to map out a personalized strategy for returning before going on extended leave. At Deloitte & Touche, employees can dial workloads up or down depending on personal needs.
Such programs, which are typically intended for new mothers, mean women no longer have to pick between their career or their family, said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute.
The shift reflects a broader transformation in the typical career trajectory in America. With more people adjusting workloads and taking "time outs" for personal reasons or to try their hand at a new field, the linear career path is no longer the only way up the corporate ladder, Galinsky said.
Since leaving her job in January, Thoma has sat on a panel for the company's women's networking group, lunched with her career coach and attended several company social events. The company is also flying her to Canada this month for a free training conference.
While Thoma doesn't expect to get the same job back when she returns, the hope is that she'll still be able to continue her rise up the corporate ladder. Thoma, a San Marin County, Calif. resident, still plans to become a partner after she returns.
"My plan is to be out for one or two years," she said. "At the same time, I don't want to be bumped down."