Photo credit: Pixabay.
In a Starbucks in the heart of Bangalore, I sip a double espresso across from Neha Bagaria. She nods towards the upper floor of the cafe.
“We started, by the way, down the road from here,” she recalls, pointing to a coworking space down the street. The day they launched their site, though, the internet was down. “So we all took our laptops and walked to Starbucks. We were upstairs here.”
JobsforHer works like any other jobs and resources site, with a twist.
She recounts the excitement of the unknown in that moment. Neha and her team – a group of women you could count on one hand – didn’t know exactly what they were doing, but they knew they were excited.
Founded on March 8, 2015 – International Women’s Day – Neha’s portal JobsforHer functions like any other jobs and resources site. With a twist: it’s specifically for women who have taken a break from the workforce – for motherhood, for example – and want to pick up a job again.
See: Sheroes helps Indian women get back into the workforce
Sprung from experience
Neha Bagaria, founder of JobsforHer. Photo Credit: JobsforHer.
Neha had the idea for JobsforHer after her own experience with motherhood. A Wharton graduate in finance, marketing, and information systems, she was running her own educational center in Mumbai. When she got married, she shut shop and moved to Bangalore with her husband, where she oversaw financing and marketing strategy at his pharmaceutical manufacturing firm nearly right up until the birth of her first child.
It was a shame that not everyone had that opportunity.
“I was like, yeah, I’m not going back to work,” she tells Tech in Asia. Three and a half years later, when her second child was half a year old, she found herself wanting to be back in the workforce.
“I need to get back to work to become the person I used to be, the person I know,” she remembers thinking. “I realize that, to be a better mother, I need to be a more happy and fulfilled person.” For her, that meant employment. She took up her old position and loved it – she was putting in hours from home at something she truly enjoyed, and she found that she and her family were happier for it.
It was a shame, she decided, that not everyone had that opportunity.
Why it takes hard work to get back to work
Only 25 percent of India’s country workforce is female, despite more women pursuing higher education than before. A significant portion opts for motherhood and doesn’t return, adding to women leaving India’s workforce faster than they come in.
Not every woman wants to go back to work after a break, but the obstacles for those who do are seemingly endless.
Alicia Florrick, the titular character of The Good Wife, returns to work in her 40s, and finds herself working among people half her age.
Neha recalls listening to her friends’ and colleagues’ experiences: a woman returning to a former position means working with colleagues who have been promoted ahead of her, if employers will even take her back. Someone who’s taken a break, many bosses reason, might take a break again – she might not be serious about her career because her children are more important. Meanwhile, the employee is left to wonder who will take care of her children during the day.
The obstacles for women reentering the workforce are seemingly endless.
Other reasons are more psychologically rooted and something that Neha expresses feeling herself – not being able to get back into the groove, or balance work and home. “I want to help with that,” she explains.
Today, between 1,800 and 1,900 companies post jobs across industries on JobsforHer, with the knowledge that their job postings are going out solely to women looking to reenter the workforce. Companies can post for free but can boost their posts with a premium model that can cost between US$1.48 for a boosted “hot” job post or US$1,500 to run a recruitment campaign through the site. The site gets 150,000 monthly visitors, and the typical user is a woman in her 30s who has over five years work experience and has taken a one or two year break.
Getting past the stigma companies tend to have against women coming back into the workplace was as easy as getting them to see the numbers. “We can’t afford to lose out on this talent pool, frankly, as an economy and a country,” says Neha. “What kind of message are we sending across to women by telling them they have to choose?” Emphasis on a diverse workplace has become a trend over the past decade, meaning there simply aren’t enough women for diversity if an employer turns away mothers ready to come back to their jobs.
“They can join you immediately,” Neha says, with a laugh. “No notice period required.”
Events for Her
JobsforHer has grown from that handful of women in Starbucks without an idea for product-market fit, to 30 to 35 employees spread out over cities including Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad. The jobs portal is fine for now – Neha’s focused on creating width and depth. JobsforHer organizes events with partners to give resources to women reentering the workplace.
JobsforHer’s team. Photo credit: JobsforHer.
A speed-mentoring session with India community-building facilitator Back to the Front, which helps build relationships between women in the workforce, inspired its newest offering. Its mentorship board, through which people who want to help the community can sign up and get featured, launched today. Women can participate in webinars and expert chats on their own time.
Other resources available to women in the workforce include Sheroes, a jobs and community platform for professional women, including those seeking first-time employment. SheThePeople offers stories and encouragement from successful female entrepreneurs. Avtar I-Win runs programs that focus on the home-job balance and increase diversity within companies, and create reentry opportunities. Her Second Innings offers jobs, mentorship, and career coaching for women who want to come back to work.
See: 5 ways to tell if your startup mentor sucks
Other events on JobsforHer’s docket this year include a photoshoot inspired by the lack of stock photos of Indian women in the office. Volunteer models will pose for pictures in a corporate setting, and the photos will be distributed to emphasize the role of Indian women in the workplace.
“Because [work] is something we do,” Neha says.
Converted from Indian rupees. US$1 = INR 67.43
This post It’s hard for women to reenter the workforce. This Wharton grad’s job portal is for them appeared first on Tech in Asia.