Women making career comeback anticipate pay cut: Survey

Even as corporates progress towards bridging the gender gap, women making career comebacks expect a slash in their salaries from their last earned ones, says a survey.

While there is a growing trend of large corporate firms shifting their focus towards second career women in the last few years, young India still has over seven million women who are seeking career return, said Chennai-based recruitment firm AVTAR Group in its finding of second career ecosystem in Corporate India. The theme was ‘Second Careers of Women Professionals – The India Story’ through its annual research for this year – VIEWPORT 2019.

The survey showed that the majority of respondents (69 per cent) anticipates a pay cut on their career re-entry due to the prevalence of motherhood wage penalty - mothers suffering severe wage and hiring disadvantages in the workplace.

The survey that was conducted among 783 second career women from various industry sectors across the country with an average work experience of 9.5 years and an average duration of 4.4 years career break. The survey reveals that motherhood challenges (45 per cent) and maternity (35 per cent) are the most common reasons to take a break. The survey also found that elder care responsibility with 16 per cent remains another critical reason for women in the country to take a career break.

When it comes to career return challenges, the survey found that in today’s fourth industrial revolution era, driven by Artificial Intelligence and digital world, the insufficient support at home (23 per cent) is among the top three biggest barriers for second career women.

The absence of strong network and skill gap are the other two barriers listed on top with 59 per cent and 36 per cent respectively.

Saundarya Rajesh, Founder-President of AVTAR Group, said, it is heartening to see the momentum build in the second career movement. While there has been a steady progress, the country requires more and more companies across the segments and geographies to implement such women friendly policies that not only help them improve overall performance but elevate India’s position on global women workforce map.

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