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The pandemic forced many workers to take early retirement or step away from their careers to care for family members. As the tight job market continues, innovative programs are trying to lure them back to the workplace.
Governments at all levels in the competition for talent are increasingly attracted to recruiting experienced workers looking to relaunch their careers, MarketWatch reports. The idea behind various re-entry programs targeted at professionals is that careers often aren't linear. Return-to-work programs are gaining momentum in the private sector, thanks to the potent combination of an aging workforce, increased longevity and tight labor markets.
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For a long time, a hiring stigma attached to professionals who took time away from their career. That started to change about two decades ago when several Wall Street firms embraced formal career re-entry initiatives in an effort to boost their ranks of professional women. These days, companies as diverse as Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan and Amazon have career re-entry programs Governments now look to join the return-to-work movement.
"Governments are big employers, and they are looking for high-performing people like the private sector," says Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO and co-founder of iRelaunch, a company that works with employers to develop career re-entry programs. "People take career breaks that have nothing to do with work performance, including child care and elder care. Employers started to see that there is a high-caliber pool."
Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who took a 13-year career break to care for her family, helped create the Return Utah program. ShayAnn Baker, who also took a career break, is the program manager.
"A career break gives them a major life perspective, and the way they solve problems is typically a little more innovative," she says. "It also increases equity in the state. People might be stopped or face barriers to employment because of the career break. Despite the gap, they get looked at."
The various versions of formal re-entry programs in the private and public sectors aren't specifically designed with experienced professionals in mind. There are many reasons behind career breaks, including military service, continuing education, a new baby and retirement. But formal programs ease the transition back into the paid workforce, a clear benefit to older professionals who took time away from paid work. The emerging movement to create more opportunities for experienced professionals to join the public sector is a classic win-win situation considering the demographics of an aging population. Good for older professionals and an excellent choice for government as employer.
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Alan Goforth
Alan Goforth is a freelance writer in suburban Kansas City. In addition to freelancing for several publications, he has written a dozen books about sports and other topics.
