The Road Back To Employment

The last year has not been kind to many moms in the work force, in fact 12.1 million lost their jobs between February and April of 2020. It's no wonder it's been dubbed the shecession because women are the most affected.

Moms found themselves having to choose to either stay employed or to stay with their kids at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in part because of the sudden lack of childcare when schools moved to a distance learning model and for many more because they lost employment as business closures and cutbacks skyrocketed.

According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, women of color are the hardest hit with their unemployment rate standing at a staggering 8.4% despite many companies pushing more diversity and inclusion programs. It's important to note that while Black women are increasingly obtaining college degrees, they are given fewer full-time employment opportunities, only 12 percent are employed in the private sector and are over represented in low growth occupations that do not require a degree making it a perfect stew for lower wages and high debt accumulation.

The Take Away:

1. The Mom Project, a digital talent house is always looking to place moms returning to the workforce and is currently partnering with Accenture to hire 150 moms for highly coveted roles in tech.

2. Before you begin your job search, be sure to get your resume reupholstered (ha!). You can get this done either from linkedIn, Top Resume and Indeed and use the same service for your job search.

3. Hire more black moms and pay them fair!