WST Collaborates to Bring Women Back to Work

WE SHAPE TECH is thrilled to announce its collaboration as a media partner with Salesforce’s program “Bring Women Back to Work“. The program aims to up- and re-skill women after maternity leave and effectively augments their chances to get a part-time job in tech.

The Importance of Bringing Women Back to Work

Women give birth and women typically are the principal caretaker of children, often resulting in a loss of (fulltime) job and them having a hard time to get an adequate part-time position, never mind ever having a career again. The subject of the importance of bringing women back to work through childcare solutions and part-time positions is a well discussed one. But looking at the importance of the subject and where companies are in providing opportunities for mothers, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

A study conducted in the UK by Professor Harkness, University of Bristol, highlights how gendered employment patterns are following childbirth:

men typically remain in full-time work and women leaving full-time work
loss in work experience, particularly full-time work experience, is an important part of the explanation for the gender pay gap
women still suffer economically as a result of taking on childcare responsibilities
women risk becoming stuck in their job roles with limited career progression

% of women never find back to work after maternity

% of women in tech

Source: BWBW

But the biggest problem by far is to find a meaningful part-time position in a company that empowers working mothers to still climb that career ladder. And this is where the #BWBW program kicks in.

The Program

In March 2020 and under the motto “We hire for attitude and train for skills”, Salesforce has implemented a comprehensive program focusing on re-introducing women with an extended career-break, to the professional world in Switzerland.

Underrepresented and overlooked – that is a general truth for women and escpecially ones returning after maternity leave. With “Bring Women Back to Work”, Salesforce has effectively created a program that augments women’s chances for a part-time job after a longer leave of absence from the workplace by helping them to re- or upskill and providing opportunities for employment through their partner network.

The one year program takes place on a quarterly basis for a max of 18 women per quarter, which means they offer 72 training opportunities for women on a yearly basis.

The Journey Back to Work

Course participants go through a comprehensive program including mentoring, coaching, personal development workshops, admin certifications, technology workshops and a safe space for sharing and exchanging experiences. Be it consultant, sales, technical or marketing – the role opportunities offered by this 12-month-program are quite diverse.

While the program cannot give a guarantee of employment, the participant’s chances are drastically increased.

The Partners

Providing up-/reskill opportunities is the first step. The second and equally important step Salesforce has taken was to create a partners network built of companies that commit to hiring women exiting the program or supporting the program financially.

By February 2022, the program counts 17 hiring partners, 6 sponsors, 8 content partners and 3 media partners, one of which is WE SHAPE TECH.

How to Qualify

To apply for a space in the program, you have to fulfill the following requirements:

Mandatory

Language

Background

Soft Skills

Mandatory

Language

Background

Soft Skills

The program is always happy to receive applications from motivated women. So, check out https://www.salesforce.com/eu/campaign/bwbw/ and see if it fits.