A shortage of child care workers is causing families to struggle.
A new report by Wells Fargo finds that a labor shortage in the child care field has impacted nearly half a million families in recent months. Experts believe that low wages may be contributing to the current labor shortage in the industry.
The report also found that because many parents struggle to find reliable long-term childcare, they may be staying at home, adding to labor shortages in other fields.
The lack of reliable child care has caused thousands to take a career break in the last two years. And while many women still see a stigma attached to career breaks, new data shows that may be changing.
New findings from LinkedIn show that about half of hiring managers say career breaks are becoming more common. Nearly the same number of hiring managers say they think people who have taken breaks in their careers are an untapped talent pool.
"A lot of people say that you learn a lot of valuable soft skills, like time management, excellent communication, being able to ruthlessly prioritize," said Camilla Han-He, a senior product manager at LinkedIn. "So, don't shy away from adding those things to your profile. They're valid, they're real and they're super valuable."
Other skills women say they've learned during a career break include self-awareness, patience, decision making, problem-solving and creative thinking. They're all skills that career experts say people who have taken career breaks should highlight on their resumes and mention during the interview.
Hiring managers say people often undersell many valuable skills they've learned during a career break.
"Make sure that you practice the kind of story that you want to tell around your career break, and also make sure that you're able to tie the skills that you've learned to what you're able to offer in the new job," Han-He said.
LinkedIn says it has seen more job postings in the U.S. that mention career breaks. In 2021 those postings were up 63% from 2020, and they're up nearly 100% from 2018.
LinkedIn recently made it easier to share the context around career breaks. Find the new feature under the "experience" section on a LinkedIn profile.