The Moms Are Coming Back--Slowly But Surely.

How to Ease the Friction Returning

Parents FaceA look at what one Winter Park, Florida-based company did to support
moms during the pandemic and more.
BY BRIT MORSE, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, INC.
@BRITNMORSE
The Moms Are Coming Back--Slowly But Surely. How to Ease the Friction Returning
Parents Face
Photo: Getty Images
After nearly three years amid a pandemic that sidelined millions of mothers, the
number of working-age women in the job market has finally returned to pre-pandemic
levels--but that doesn't mean they're happy about it.

Women re-entering the workforce face unique challenges including navigating a

childcare system with dwindling resources and willing workers. According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are now 100,000 fewer child-care workers than
there were before the pandemic.

It's a situation Taj Adhav, CEO and co-founder of the Winter Park, Florida-based
real-estate software platform Leasecake has seen firsthand. In 1991, when he and
his spouse began having children, she left a stable job as a manager at State Farm
Insurance to stay home with the kids. "Her skills were waning," he said. And he
realized that if it was an issue for her, it's surely a problem for others--that
became compounded by the pandemic.

"Really smart people are out there everywhere in the world, you just have to help
them to stay engaged and provide a flexible working condition where they can
balance [work and] taking care of the kids," says Adhav.

So in April 2021, his company began working with The Mom Project, a Chicago-based
digital talent marketplace aimed at helping re-employ parents. Since, Leasecake has
hired fifteen single-parent and married mothers who were previously out of the
workforce. They make incredible employees, Adhav notes, but the employees
themselves need to find that the job works for them, too. Leasecake, for its part,
is committed to providing flexible working conditions that allow employees to take
care of their families while maintaining a decent work-life-balance.

While many companies have similarly leaned into remote work and flexible policies,
there is still more that can be done to support moms, who want to get back to the
workforce while also prioritizing their family responsibilities. Here are three
ways to get moms back--and keep them happy in the process.

1. Respect workplace flexibility.

While flexible and remote work arrangements offer many benefits to working parents,
the models only succeed if those at the company respect them, notes Allison
Robinson, CEO and founder of The Mom Project. This goes beyond offering flexibility
in one's schedule, or creating a schedule that best fits a caregiver's personal
commitments. It could mean respecting an individual's need to work off hours by
making content and company resources widely available and accessible online.

Caregivers returning to work may also benefit from the opportunity to ramp up
gradually, notes Robinson, especially if it's the first time they're working fully
remote. So it's important to give them ample check-ins with managers and colleagues
who are willing to offer them support as they adapt to a new way of working.

2. Offer family planning benefits.

Beyond flexibility, companies that are highly attractive to moms often offer
benefits that make the journey of working parenthood easier to navigate, notes
Robinson. These include paid family leave, fertility and surrogacy benefits, ample
paid time off, child care subsidies and mental wellness benefits. This is
especially pertinent in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn
Roe v. Wade in June when more than 20 million women lost access to nearly all
abortion services because of increased restrictions at the state level. Showing
support by offering reproductive-health benefits can show that a company is
interested in supporting women.

3. Support causes working parents care about.

The pandemic and a tightened labor market created a major cultural shift for moms
and parents in general to feel more empowered to advocate for company policies and
arrangements that meet their personal and family needs. That's why Adhav decided to
be more proactive about ensuring employees are engaged. In September of 2022, for
instance, the company committed to a donation program aimed at giving $100,000 to
charities that support children in need.

Additionally, the company offers to donate five percent of its sales through its
referral program to a charity of a customer's choosing. Essentially, Leasecake
reaches out to companies that may receive a referral bonus for helping a new
customer sign up with the real-estate platform, and asks if the company can make a
donation. So far, Adhav says clients have been on board, and Leasecake has written
donations to charities including, Children of Restaurant Workers, St. Jude
Children's Hospital, and the Burger King Foundation, on their clients behalf. He
says the project has had the added benefit of making employees feel good about
their jobs--which is part of why they might choose to stay.