Eliza Khuner was a former Data Scientist at Facebook who asked HR if after the birth of her third child she could work part-time from home. The answer was no. No to working from home. No to part-time working. No to taking extra unpaid leave.

Left with what she felt like was no choice she handed in her resignation letter, posting it internally in a group for Facebook employees. 5,500 Facebook employees reacted with support. Hundreds of messages were sent from other mums who had been in the same position.

Read more on her story in her article published by WIRED.

This is just one woman’s story but how common is this in the workplace?

It’s difficult for women to go back to work after having a baby, once maternity leave is over they are usually thrown back in at the deep end. To go from being with their child 24/7 to then having to go back to work full time I would imagine is pretty overwhelming.

For years there has been such a lack of support from companies for female workers to start families, and continue their vital work.  There can be resistance in offering part time hours. A lack of female leadership roles. This has to change. Taking maternity leave can have a negative effect on a woman’s career as they are out of the business for a number of months. Is this fair, or is there a way this can be combatted through continuous development and opportunity?

According to a Deloitte study in 2018, cited on Techrepublic.com the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace are improved operational and financial benefits, better adherence to project schedules, lower project costs, better problem-solving, higher employee performance ratings, higher employee pay bonuses, increased innovation and better group performance.  “Mic drop”.

Women’s careers should not be halted or ‘put on pause’ due to time out on maternity leave. Women should be able to pick up where they left off.  Flexible working should be promoted.  Video calling should be encouraged as an alternative to on-site meetings where possible.  Little steps need to progress quicker.

I do feel the landscape for women is changing slowly. One good thing to come out of the recent pandemic, for example, is how it has changed a lot of employers’ mindsets on the way we work.

Companies are now realising that remote and flexible working can still produce the same level of productivity. This can only work in favour of women looking to start families. This flexibility could really help keep women in the tech industry as we don’t just need to get more women into tech, we also need to KEEP them there!

If you’ve enjoyed this read then please check out my previous blogs in this Women in Tech series…. Conditioned from an early age and There’s a lack of women studying STEM subjects. Stay tuned for the next in the series!