Working mums’ talent overlooked

11/09/2007

Employers in the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses could be missing out on a ‘huge pool of talent’, it has been suggested.

New research has indicated that a large section of the population – namely, working mothers - are being overlooked by smaller firms, despite the problems employers are facing acquiring suitably skilled staff.

The survey found that flexibility was the top priority for working mothers searching for jobs, but 90% said it was difficult to find the flexibility they need and 83% it was hard to find flexible work that utilised their skills.

This has led to many mothers taking their skills and experience out of the job market, according to the research. Over two thirds of those not working said they would like to go back to work, but were not prepared to settle for jobs that did not meet their level of experience in order to get the flexibility they wanted.

Additionally, over half felt employers were not sympathetic to mothers and 86% believed flexible positions paid less.

Director of lifestyle management company Ten UK, Alex Cheatle, said that a change in attitudes could benefit employers:

“For us time management is critical as is the ability to multi-task. Mums are great at managing time as they are used to keeping unmovable deadlines and to doing many things at once.

“Additionally working from home works for us, it means we can get someone with local knowledge cost effectively and efficiently.”