Motherhood means women 'start back at the bottom'

Women returning to work after childbirth may find they have to work back up to the position they used to hold, it has been suggested.

According to Tanya Hine, president of the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs, it is an ongoing problem that new mums returning to work may find themselves at the bottom of the career ladder again.

Ms Hine remarked that this was not a new problem.

It always has been a problem that once you have children you're normally back at the bottom of the ladder and have to work yourself back up again, she said.

Last week, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) released research that suggested women are penalised in the workplace for choosing to start a family.

The TUC figures found that gender pay gap sharply increases when women reach their 30s.

ClickAJob chief executive Yngve Traberg deplores the trend, seeing it as a missed opportunity against the increasingly desperate shortage of skilled talent.

Rusty skills are quickly updated with a refresher course, he says. In fact our online ClickATest facility is a major resource in keeping capability levels up to the mark.

Far more important is having the right attitude, a life discipline that once assumed is seldom forgotten, the key difference between experienced staff and total greenhorns, he remarks.

On top of that, to start mothers back at the bottom ignores a real asset in commitment, hardly a key motivator for continuing achievement.