Power Your Flex - How Organizations and MSPs Can Make an Immediate Impact

It’s no secret that moms are looking for a more flexible, supportive, inclusive work environment with competitive compensation. That, coupled with companies competing for highly-skilled talent like never before, creates a big opportunity for both parties. Leaders, if you want to harness the collective power of moms, here’s how. 

But first… 

The Problem

From February 2020 to January 2022, as we collectively navigated the pandemic, men regained all jobs they had lost, according to an analysis of the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report by the National Women's Law Center. However, 1.1 million women left the labor force during that span, accounting for 63 percent of all jobs lost. While they’ve made some progress, they are still lagging by more than 1.8 million jobs. 

If you’re a working mom or know one, you understand that trying to balance career and family has never been easy. Multiple factors, including a lack of flexible work options, being the primary caregiver, having to leave work for kid’s appointments, and lack of support historically, have created an unwinnable dynamic, both personally and professionally. The pandemic only highlighted this disparity, making the decades-long problem hard to ignore. 

Now, forward-thinking companies are trying to solve their own labor shortage with an eye toward an often overlooked portion of the workforce – moms returning to work. 

The Story

There have been many names for the paths people have either chosen or been forced into since the pandemic – the Great Resignation, the Great Migration, the Great Reimagination – but the link between all of them is that people have seen a new way of work, and they are embracing it. 

“In the past, job security, decent compensation, or at least a tangible opportunity was the price of entry for people coming into organizations,” wrote Michelle Mahony in Harvard Business Review. “Now a massive number of employees not only want to feel invested in the work they do, but they also want to see that their employer is invested in the same things they value and believe in.” This means culture, flexibility, and a sense of belonging. Basically, what moms have wanted forever. 

“Throughout the pandemic, we've seen remote work go from the margins into the mainstream, and the data on LinkedIn is showing us that one in seven jobs that are being posted right now have a remote or hybrid work component,” said Desmond Dickerson, the Director of Future of Work Marketing at Microsoft. “In March of 2020, that number was 1 in 67.”

The Solution

The Mom Project has been in the business of moms since 2016, and we’re not slowing down. We’ve been working tirelessly to grow a community that provides outreach, training, engagement, opportunity, and equity by extending support to moms through flexible work.

We’ve spent years listening to what this critical part of the workforce is looking for in their lives. We’ve created a digital talent marketplace where 63% of our community members are open to contract work, a population that will be nearing 50% of the total workforce in most companies by next year. Moms are seeking a more flexible, supportive, inclusive work environment with competitive compensation. 

We’re working with like-minded companies to create this environment for returning moms by aligning their corporate practices with actual needs. In turn, these leaders are able to scale their business, retain talent with highly-competitive skill sets, and rearchitect their culture to attract not just moms, but everyone looking for a new way of working. 

Companies, and the service partners they employ to engage and manage a flexible workforce (i.e., VMS, MSP, and RPO services), should be actively seeking the expertise of leaders in the market who can connect them to a network of over 650,000 pre-vetted, experienced, and engaged women ready to make a difference. (Hint: That’s us.)

In the next three years, we will connect our talent community with over $1B in economic opportunity through job matches, upskilling, and research-backed policy.