My baby was just a few hours old when I placed her in the bassinet by my bed and began furiously pitching story ideas to editors. I was exhausted, but more than that I was petrified that any time away from my desk would sound the death knell for my freelance career. I carried on until my husband first packed away my laptop, and then my phone, gently reminding me that women take career breaks all the time.
He isn’t wrong; a survey from Hays found that 64 per cent of female workers across Australia and New Zealand reported having taken a break at some point. There’s no denying there are many challenges facing women who choose to take significant time away from their careers. Credit: Irina Polonina / Stocksy United But there’s no denying there are many challenges facing women who choose to take significant time away from their careers, explains business and career coach Holly Garber.
“There’s obviously the financial impact – not just earning a day-to-day wage, but the long-term implications of not contributing to super during that time away,” she says. “Then there’s the impact around skill progression and role relevance, which can hinder potential opportunities and quash confidence when the time comes to re-enter the workforce.” Taking time to upskill, reconnect with industry contacts and seek out others with similar trajectories can help make things a little easier, but Garber insists it’s just as important to address the reallocation of labour within the .