Job prospects for working mothers are still tougher than for other workers, according to research from workspace solutions provider Regus.
The company said today research showed that worldwide the proportion of firms intending to hire more working mothers had slumped by one fifth since the same time last year.
Compared to a year ago, when 44 percent of companies planned to hire working mothers, only 36 percent expected to do so this year.
In New Zealand only 47 percent of firms intending to add staff said they planned to hire more working mothers.
The company said the findings would be of particular concern to women's groups as overall employment prospects brighten with the accelerating global economy in the New Year.
But the study revealed a residual proportion of businesses which continued to harbour concerns about employing working mothers, along with some detail as to what those concerns were.
There was a minority of employers who still feared that working mothers may show less commitment and flexibility than other employees (37 percent), leave shortly after training to have another child (33 percent) or have out-dated skills (24 percent).
In New Zealand employers were particularly concerned about working mums' flexibility (33 percent), but generally less worried than average.
On the positive side, a majority of businesses now valued returning mothers, with 72 percent declaring they believed companies that ignored part-time returning mothers were missing out on a significant and valuable part of the employment pool.
As well, 56 percent regarded working mothers as offering skills that were difficult to find in the current market; and 57 percent said that they valued returning mothers because they offered experience and skills without demanding top salaries. In New Zealand, not demanding top salaries was lower than the global average (47 percent), perhaps indicating that working mothers stood a better chance of being reasonably compensated for their work.
``It is not surprising to see that prejudiced attitudes come back into play with economic belt-tightening and some businesses are evidently still guilty of applying old-fashioned misgivings to the contemporary work environment,'' said William Willems, vice president for Regus Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.
``While the vast majority of firms agrees that barring the door to working mums means shutting out valuable staff, there is some concern that family commitments may hinder working mothers from giving their job full attention and commitment.
``Nevertheless, the sex difference in the employment rate in New Zealand is reported to have more than halved between 1986 and 2009 as a result of female employment rates falling less than those of males during the economic downturns of the past 25 years.''
Mr Willems said that flexible work arrangements were becoming the norm and savvy businesses would find that they were able to provide a more family friendly and at the same time more productive work environment simply by allowing employees to work alternative hours or closer to home.''
Job market tough for working mums
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