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Moms Staying Home: Some Firms Offer Leave as Long as 5 Years
Aired December 30, 2003 - 06:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little 'Business Buzz' now. More women are choosing to stay home after their maternity leave runs out, but employers want them back.
Sasha Salama has the story from the Nasdaq market site.
Good morning again.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
It's a very interesting story that's in today's "Wall Street Journal." It's actually in company's best interest, more times than not, to bring back mothers who have left the work force to have children. And it's in their best interest because it saves them a lot of money.
Here are some facts. First of all, the Census Bureau says that the percentage of new mothers who work fell in 2000 from 1998 and it hasn't risen since. A new survey of workers said that more than a quarter of women who are planning to have children think they will stop working for more than a few months. So the fact is that women are taking more time off than they have in the past to have children and spend some time with them.
Companies are now experimenting with ways to bring those mothers back to the work force. Some are letting employees take leaves that can last as long as five years. The companies say that keeping ties with those old workers is often less expensive than recruiting and training new workers.
A case in point is the big accounting firm Deloitte & Touche. It's planning to launch a new program next year which will let employees take an unpaid leave of absence for as long as five years for various personal reasons. Deloitte says that personal leave programs last year saved Deloitte $41 million in costs.
IBM is another case in point, although IBM is a rare case. Fifty-nine percent of its workers who took leaves recently said they would have left the company entirely if IBM hadn't offered some special programs. For example, they let some workers, men or women, take leaves of up to three years. So it's a very interesting trend in the workplace.
And, Carol, I just want to mention to you that the markets are really sitting pretty at this point. COSTELLO: I know we had a good day yesterday. I'm just amazed that a company could give a worker five years off and then hire them back.
SALAMA: Yes. Yes, you know it sounds a bit odd. But what they are doing is they are appointing a mentor at the company to stay in touch with them so that the person doesn't get totally stale and that they are in touch with what's happening. Also, some companies let them keep their benefits but forego their leave all as a way of saving the company's money.
COSTELLO: That's great. I mean it's just great for the kids.
Sasha Salama, live from the Nasdaq market site, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Years>
Aired December 30, 2003 - 06:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little 'Business Buzz' now. More women are choosing to stay home after their maternity leave runs out, but employers want them back.
Sasha Salama has the story from the Nasdaq market site.
Good morning again.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
It's a very interesting story that's in today's "Wall Street Journal." It's actually in company's best interest, more times than not, to bring back mothers who have left the work force to have children. And it's in their best interest because it saves them a lot of money.
Here are some facts. First of all, the Census Bureau says that the percentage of new mothers who work fell in 2000 from 1998 and it hasn't risen since. A new survey of workers said that more than a quarter of women who are planning to have children think they will stop working for more than a few months. So the fact is that women are taking more time off than they have in the past to have children and spend some time with them.
Companies are now experimenting with ways to bring those mothers back to the work force. Some are letting employees take leaves that can last as long as five years. The companies say that keeping ties with those old workers is often less expensive than recruiting and training new workers.
A case in point is the big accounting firm Deloitte & Touche. It's planning to launch a new program next year which will let employees take an unpaid leave of absence for as long as five years for various personal reasons. Deloitte says that personal leave programs last year saved Deloitte $41 million in costs.
IBM is another case in point, although IBM is a rare case. Fifty-nine percent of its workers who took leaves recently said they would have left the company entirely if IBM hadn't offered some special programs. For example, they let some workers, men or women, take leaves of up to three years. So it's a very interesting trend in the workplace.
And, Carol, I just want to mention to you that the markets are really sitting pretty at this point. COSTELLO: I know we had a good day yesterday. I'm just amazed that a company could give a worker five years off and then hire them back.
SALAMA: Yes. Yes, you know it sounds a bit odd. But what they are doing is they are appointing a mentor at the company to stay in touch with them so that the person doesn't get totally stale and that they are in touch with what's happening. Also, some companies let them keep their benefits but forego their leave all as a way of saving the company's money.
COSTELLO: That's great. I mean it's just great for the kids.
Sasha Salama, live from the Nasdaq market site, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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