Melissa NICHOLSON

MELISSA NICHOLSON: 70% of women who took career breaks to raise children struggled with decreased confidence when trying to re-enter the workforce. But with job sharing, you’re not starting at a disadvantage—you’re partnering with someone who’s already there, already valued, already trusted. You’re coming in as part of a solution.

Introduction

INTRO: Welcome to Job Share Revolution. The show about job sharing—a partnership between two people to bring two minds and skill sets to one full-time position. I’m Melissa Nicholson, former job sharer turned founder of the first U.S. job share company. But it wasn’t long ago that I felt like an utter failure at work and as a new parent. Job sharing was my game-changer. I reclaimed four days a week to fully engage in my life while my capable partner handled everything. Together, we achieved more than I ever could solo. Fast forward to many lessons learned to bring you the training and support I wish I’d had to change lives and the modern-day workplace. Let’s live life and slay work.

Melissa NICHOLSON INTRO

MELISSA NICHOLSON: Hey friend, it’s Mel. It’s almost the New Year, can you hardly believe it? I hope you have had the best holiday season with your family.

I’m so glad you’re here, and I know that it is the craziest time of year and life is busy, so I thank you for spending your time with me on the Jobshare Revolution podcast, where every week we dive into workplace topics we hear are top of mind for you, from equity to wellness to flexibility, and of course, job sharing.

Welcome to the series finale of our special seven-part series on the great working mom exodus of 2025.

As a reminder, the catalyst of this series was a drop in the overall workforce of mothers by a startling 2%. And the result was even way worse for mothers of young children, 3%. A mass exodus of 450,000 mothers from the workforce January through July of this year. I just knew we had to stop everything and dive into what the frick was happening. What was driving all of these mothers out?

So we have covered so much ground together of the top issues facing mothers right now—return-to-office mandates, cultural shifts toward traditional gender roles, including the tradwife movement, the childcare crisis, mental load and burnout, the persistent motherhood penalty, and inadequate eldercare support, of which I know a little something about.

Today, we’re wrapping it all up by talking about career transitions and relaunching a career after a break. And I’m so excited about this episode, because this is where job sharing becomes an absolute secret weapon.

Can you do me a favor? Share this episode with a friend who’s transitioning careers or getting ready to jump back in. This may just be exactly what they need. The lightbulbs will be going off left and right.

When you share Jobshare Revolution, you are a catalyst for changing these outdated systems that clearly have not come along to support the diverse, vibrant, talented workforce that we have today. Thank you so much for sharing it. It means the world to me.

Why This Is Even Harder in 2025

Normally, there are a whole host of challenges for women relaunching careers or making transitions—ageism, the damn motherhood penalty, the inability of the workplace to recognize the skill set developed during parenthood.

All of those highly coveted soft skills, like creative thinking, conflict resolution, and communication skills, as well as organizational and time management skills? They’re finely tuned during PTA volunteering and raising actual human beings to be productive members of society. But workplaces—they just don’t value them on a resume.

Changing careers or returning from a career break seems like it has never been more of a challenge, given this tricky, often brutal job market where most are trying to figure out how to hack AI’s new HR practices that leave them having a tough time breaking through.

But this is where I get super excited about job sharing! It’s one of the very best secret weapons against ageism to propel women’s careers at a time they typically must take a step back.

The Landscape for Career Relaunchers

Relaunching or changing careers after a break is really, really hard for mothers due to amplified maternal wall bias, perceived skills gaps, and the logistical challenges of balancing re-entry with family demands.

A recent Fortune analysis found a significant exodus of mothers from the workforce in the first half of 2025, driven largely by the removal of flexible work options that had previously supported them.

But here’s why re-entry is even harder for mothers in 2025:

Persistent career break stigma. While some progress has been made in destigmatizing career gaps for caregiving, significant bias remains. I have seen this on LinkedIn, post after post, highlighting the need for mothers to reframe their caregiving experience in business language to avoid prejudice. There’s just a lot of stigma out there.

Loss of confidence. A 2025 survey found that 70% of women who took career breaks to raise children struggled with decreased confidence when trying to re-enter the workforce. The loss of professional identity combined with outdated perceptions of their skills leaves many feeling overwhelmed.

I can completely see how this happens. And I honestly think that a lot of women are very confident but it’s just…it’s that little bit of gap. It takes a while to really flip the script on that. Like, take your best skills that you gained when you had your career break. All of the volunteering. All of the mad skills that you developed as a parent. And flip the script on them and use them for the workforce.

Because the truth is, soft skills are the most desired skills right now. Soft skills are skills that AI cannot replicate, right? So…

The “skills gap” perception. Yeah, it’s a skills gap perception. So if you’re a mother re-entering after an extended break, most mothers will face this perception that their skills are completely outdated. I mean, the truth is, they’ve gained valuable experience in problem-solving and multitasking as caregivers, but traditional hiring practices often dismiss these skills in favor of continuous, formal work history.

That’s where we need to get crafty and really lean into the soft skills. The kind that bots cannot replace. The most desirable skills that workplaces are looking for right now.

Exacerbated by economic uncertainty. So, post-pandemic shifts, including mass layoffs and tighter labor markets, make re-entry even more competitive. So that just makes it harder, right? Makes it harder if you are mid-career, you’ve taken a break, you’re looking to relaunch your career, or you’re looking to transition. Like, you are just spent and burnt out and ready for a new challenge. Ready for more purpose in your life. Looking for a career with more impact.

For many mothers, their last formal work was during a different economic climate, making it really hard to find their footing.

You know how many people are hitting their heads against the wall in this brutal job market right now? It’s soul-crushing.

What Mothers Can Do

So what can mothers do? What can mothers do to navigate this? I’ve got five strategic actions for you:

The first thing that you can do is strategic skill enhancement. Prioritize upskilling or reskilling in areas like AI, cloud computing, or other in-demand skills, tech skills,  to counteract the “skills gap” perception. There are some really great organizations out there like Mom Relaunch that offer workshops and guidance on relevant certifications.

The second thing you can do is reframe the career break. This is just a must. Create your resume in a way that focuses on a skills-based format rather than chronological, highlighting transferable skills gained through volunteer work, board service, project management during your career break. So many people are doing contract work and consulting work and coaching work during those career breaks because it’s flexible right? So use those.

]The third thing you can do is cultivate a powerful network, reconnecting with former colleagues and mentors, and actively expanding your professional network through LinkedIn groups or industry events.

So I know everyone hates networking. I hate networking too. But you’ve gotta think about it in a different way. You’ve really got to think about people who you know that know people. Because that is a really great way to get back into a job, especially after a career break. And especially when you’re making a career change, or switching careers. So, think about that. Think about it more like small group networking. And, the thing is: we have more ways to connect with people than ever before. You can really find out a lot about people who are in your network from LinkedIn. There’s so much information there about their work history, who they know, who your friends know…

So, really get creative and lean into networking because networking doesn’t just provide job leads, but it also builds confidence, it provides up-to-date industry information. You can really get a leg back in by leaning into networking.

Okay, fourth, consider “returnship” programs. So, these are…if you have not heard of what a returnship program is, it is a paid, short-term contract designed for returning professionals. They’re specifically for women who are returning to the workforce.

Companies really want to recruit and retain women. They know that women who’ve taken a career break often have advanced degrees. They have a very meaty career background. They want to reintegrate them into their workplace.

IRelaunch is a great resource for this. The founder is phenomenal, she’s been in the space for decades and is just a wealth of information. They share all kinds of returniship programs. So that is definitely a company I feel very confident in referring you to.  There are so many companies that take advantage of this, Deloitte, UBS,  Ford… They convert them into direct-hire mentorship programs, offering a smoother on-ramp.

The fifth thing that you can do is practice strategic interviews. Confidently discuss the career break in interviews. You’ve gotta practice it! You’ve got to frame it as a period of growth that developed skills in resilience, problem-solving, and efficiency, rather than a gap that needs to be justified.

You don’t want to get defensive; you want to practice this, just like an elevator pitch.

You want to practice being in an interview and explaining your career break in a way that emphasizes all of the huge benefits it brought you personally, your personal growth, and all of the skills that you are able to bring with you based on the time that you spent volunteering. To do all of these things and gain these extra skills.

So you don’t want to, you know, talk around the elephant in the room. You really want to address it, but you want to be practiced in the way that you address it. You don’t want to be ashamed of it. You really want to make sure that you proactively speak about it as a period of growth, personal and professional growth for yourself. That you can bring those skills with you.

What Employers Should Know and Do

And employers, here’s what you need to understand. You need to understand a lot.

You need to recognize the value of returning mothers. Mothers who are re-entering the workforce often possess a unique combination of resilience, emotional intelligence, and efficiency, which are invaluable assets. Those are invaluable assets and skills for any employer. Focus on outcome-based performance rather than uninterrupted career paths.

Establish structured “reboarding” programs. Go beyond standard orientation. Offer phased returns, mentorship programs, and career coaching to help returning mothers transition successfully and regain confidence.

Champion equitable policies. Implement and enforce flexible work policies and equitable parental leave for all genders. This helps normalize caregiving responsibilities and reduces the stigma associated with mothers taking time off.

I mean, while you’re there, make sure that you’ve got childcare support. Make sure that you are supporting working parents because that what’s going to keep them there. They’re transitioning back into the workforce.

Implement bias training. Conduct unconscious bias training, especially targeting hiring managers and interviewers, to mitigate assumptions about a mother’s commitment or competence.

This is where it’s really on you, employers. You have got to do a better job at training the hiring managers to make sure that they are not bringing bias about people’s caregiving into the interview. It’s just really important.

And fifth, provide access to childcare benefits. So, on-site childcare, subsidies, or partnerships with providers are powerful tools for retention and attracting returning mothers.

I mean, here is the thing: These women have prioritized their families. That’s why they took a career break. They are also very confident women because they were confident that they could take one leg out and bring both legs back in. Right? They are the educated, smart, savvy—the exact kind of people you want to hire.

So it’s absolutely important that you understand that they are going to prioritize their family. They already have support for them as far as childcare support.

How Job Sharing Is Your Secret Weapon

Now, here’s where job sharing becomes absolutely freakin’ brilliant for career transitions and relaunching. And job sharing, it’s a game-changer for both. Both! I think it is just the secret weapon.

So when people come back from a career break, a lot of the time they are having to take a step back in their career, even when they are transitioning and making a career pivot, right, into another career. It’s like you’re starting over, you don’t have twenty years in that career, fifteen years in that career, you’re starting over in a new field. So you’re going to have to take a step back.

Instead of having to have a paid internship and get junior-level roles when you are midway through your career, smart, really savvy women can do the upfront legwork to find a really great job share partner in a role or industry that piques your interest. So you sell the idea of the job share to this partner, and then you leverage the momentum—planning how the job’s going to be shared and taking it to the job share partner’s employer for approval.

Not only are women able to bypass ageism altogether, like hallelujah, because that starts in your late thirties, to be honest. You can bypass the nail-biting interview process for the most part. What I mean by that is you’re likely to come in for what would be closer to a last round of interviews with your new job share partner in the room.

So you’re not having to go through four, five, six rounds. You’re not having to do so much legwork on the interview.  It doesn’t have to be this painful, arduous long, long process.

It’s like your job share partner, they are a vetted, tried, and true talent. Their boss knows them. Their company knows them. They know the value they bring. And if they are saying I want to do this practice and bring in this incredible, talented person to do it with, there’s a lot of trust built in there, right? They’re bringing you in, you to their role. Does that make sense?

That’s why you’re able to bypass, like all of the ageism and most of the painful interview process. Imagine bypassing all of that nail-biting, head-against-the-wall interview process. Having an all-star trusted employee pitch the job share, bring you in, and literally upskill you like an old school apprenticeship—in far less time than starting a position on your own.

They are going to be literally holding your hand, teaching you on the job, so anything that you’ve missed in the one, two, or three years away from the workforce. Heck, maybe five years away from the workforce. All the tech, all of the changes, hel-lo AI. They are going to train you on the job. It’s unfreakin’ believable. It’s amazing.

You’ll have a personal cheerleader and built-in mentor to get you up to speed very quickly. This is my absolute favorite way for job sharers to start! Aside maybe from returning from maternity leave, which I have done before, and I think is amazing as well.  I think it’s because both support you.

Let’s talk about how job sharing helps with career relaunches:

For the mother,  maintains professional identity and momentum. Job sharing allows mothers to re-engage with their career in a very meaningful, senior-level capacity without the burnout of the full-time schedule. This preserves their professional identity and allows them to continue gaining experience and skills.

Reduces transition shock. It’s very easy to return to a part-time role when you are leaving small children or younger kids, and that time that you’re used to having with them. So, returning to a role part-time provides this gentler re-entry process and is a gradual adjustment to corporate culture and technology, and all of the things that can be swirling around you when you’re readjusting.

Creates built-in support. Your job share partner offers an immediate network of support for navigating responsibilities, providing cover, and sharing the cognitive load.

For the employer, access to a deeper talent pool. By offering job-sharing options, companies can attract a highly skilled and often underutilized segment of the workforce.

Enhanced productivity and engagement. Two employees sharing a role often bring fresh energy, diverse skills, and higher engagement. Job share teams are 30% more productive than full-time employees, and they are definitely more engaged. This model also provides better coverage and continuity during an employee’s absence.

Increased retention. Offering a job-sharing option shows an employer’s commitment to work-life balance, building loyalty among a demographic that might otherwise be forced to exit the workforce.

The Alternative Path

I want you to think about it this way. In a traditional career relaunch, you’re starting at a disadvantage. You’re explaining gaps, justifying your value, competing against people with uninterrupted work histories. You’re really on the defensive. You might have to take a step down in level or pay just to get your foot back in the door.

In fact, I don’t even want to say might. I want to say you should fully expect it because that is exactly what happens.

But with job sharing? You’re partnering with someone who’s already there. They are already valued. They are already trusted. You’re coming in as part of a solution, not as someone who needs accommodations. You’re offering a high-performing team, not asking for a chance.

So see how the dynamic changes? that time off, that career break that you took? It’s not going to be the big elephant in the room, it might have been otherwise.

In fact, my third job share partner Kelli. She had taken a three-year career break. So she had been on break, having her second child. I brought her back into my job share to bring her back in. Let me tell you, it was not a hard sell. They trusted me. They trusted my judgement and how good my level of commitment to my job was. So they knew Kelli would bring it. And of course, there was that accountability. She was coming into my job. I was sharing my income with her.  And of course, there was that accountability. She was coming into my job. I was sharing my income with her. So there was an expectation of what I wanted her to bring to the role was.

That accountability took it off my employer’s plate, you know? They didn’t have to worry about the new hire. I was managing the new hire. Does that make sense? And it was a brilliant partnership. I think we job shared two and a half years.

So that built-in mentorship and that training from your partner? That’s worth its weight in gold. You’re getting up to speed faster. You’re making fewer mistakes. You’re building confidence quickly.

Plus, you’re not alone in that vulnerable re-entry period. You have someone who has your back, who wants you to succeed because your success is their success.

And all of this that I have shared about relaunching from a career break, it’s the same for making a career pivot. It’s the same because you’re starting over in a completely new industry. And the positive there is that they are going to train you on the job. They are going to be the ones mentoring you and getting you up to speed. And this job share is the perfect vehicle that will allow you to do it. Make sense? Okay.

Series Wrap-Up

So this wraps up our seven-part special series as we’ve tackled the reasons 450,000 women—3% of young mothers, and 2% overall—have left the workforce in the first half of 2025, and how to make sure that YOU or your employees aren’t one of them.

You know, job sharing is my life’s work. And it’s such a game-changer. And while it started out to have others—agnostic of gender or parenthood—find a better work-life balance, the U.S. remains a very sexist country. We’re one of the few that haven’t had a female president. We refuse to support our workforce with paid parental leave, accessible and affordable healthcare, childcare or even eldercare, and flexible work practices like job sharing that could level the playing field for gender equity in the workplace.

But job sharing doesn’t require the government to support it in order to do it. Nearly all job sharers create their own job shares. And you can too. You just have to believe you can and put a plan into place.

Grab my free guide, The Work Muse Guide to Job Sharing, if you haven’t yet—workmuse.com/guide—and get going, girl (or guy!).

I hope you’ve gotten a lot out of this series. Thank you for choosing to spend your time here on the Jobshare Revolution podcast. I know you’re busy, I know this is a crazy time of year, and I just wanted to take a moment to say I truly appreciate that you are a part of our community.

I want the very best for you. I hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday season, and I can’t wait to start the New Year with you. It’s time to make all our dreams come true—yours and mine!

2026, watch out! I’ll see you in the New Year, dear one. Until then, take care of you, and remember—it’s all in you. Sending you my love. See you in 2026.