However, a majority of those who opt to come back under a second career programme are women. The reason for this could be that as compared to men, more women take career breaks.
Career transition programmes for professionals who take a break are no longer restricted to women. What started as a platform offering second career opportunities to help women return to work are now increasingly being extended to men as well. Organisations like John Deere, UBS and Deutsche Bank have second career programmes for both men and women.
If women largely take career breaks for child care, men too have left careers for various reasons including eldercare.
Pune-based tractor manufacturer John Deere has a programme called REAP (Rekindle your career, Engage back with workplace, Apply your skills and talents, Perform and prove your mettle). This was initially conceptualised as a second career programme for women.
The company’s regional talent management leader Shobha Pandey said, “When we presented this to the country group, during the discussion a point emerged — why not extend the programme to men as well? We want to be an inclusive organisation, and inclusion is about everyone. Men are equally taking breaks. The idea is to tap people who have taken breaks for various reasons.”
With REAP becoming gender-neutral, the only guideline for applicants is a two-year career break. “However, we do look at what relevant experience the person has had and whether the person requires any upskilling,” said Pandey.
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UBS India’s ‘Career Comeback Programme’ is designed to help men and women on a break of 18 months or more to transition into a corporate role in full- or part-time capacity. UBS India head (HR) Jyothi Menon said, “A professional may take a break for any reason — family care, sabbatical or to try something new. Career Comeback Programme offers a platform to make the transition easier through coaching and learning interventions that help the candidate come up to speed.”
Once the candidate is onboarded, there’s a journey of 6-8 months, customised to the team and the role they join in with learning interventions, buddies, mentors and networking opportunities.
Under its gender-neutral ‘Return to Work’ programme, Deutsche Bank India has hired candidates who had taken a break. DB India HR head Madhavi Lall said, “We plan to make this programme more structured and institutionalised and build scale.”
However, a majority of those who opt to come back under a second career programme are women. The reason for this could be that as compared to men, more women take career breaks.
