Our thanks to Chloe for this. The start of the article, on the website of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD):
Professional services firm PwC is the latest in a line of employers to launch a returnship programme to help people back into work after an extended break.
The 12-week scheme ‘Back to Business’ is open to all applicants, however, it is predominately (sic) aimed at women wishing to return to work.
So, PwC is less interested in supporting men who take career breaks – sometimes of several years’ duration – to do things which are of not the slightest value to their employers? Might that gender bias be related to the fact that Human Remains departments have long been staffed largely by women?
The final paragraph in the absurd article is a gem:
Women’s fears about being frozen out of the best career routes are not unfounded, with research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggesting that more than 50,000 new mothers are forced out of work every year, with 11 per cent reporting that they have been either shut out at work or treated so poorly that leaving was their only option.
Put another way (altered text in bold):
Women’s fears about being frozen out of the best career routes are not unfounded, with research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission [a reliable body of people when it comes to gender matters, virtually all the commissioners being female] suggesting that more than 50,000 new mothers are forced out of work every year, with 89 per cent not reporting that they have been either shut out at work or treated so poorly that leaving was their only option.
