Workforce Re-entry Research Articles

Sociological perspectives on workforce reentry: examining structural and cultural support for women after child-rearing leave

This study investigates the experiences of women reentering the workforce after extended child-rearing leave, focusing on how organizations, leaders, and society as a whole can better support their transition. Through qualitative interviews with women that reentered the workforce after a minimum one-year leave, the research identifies the multitude of challenges faced including imposter syndrome, identity integration, connection and belonging, and work-life balance. The findings highlight the critical role of organizational policies, leadership practices, and societal attitudes in facilitating successful workforce reentry. Supportive measures, including flexible work arrangements, targeted reskilling programs, and inclusive workplace cultures, are shown to significantly enhance women's reintegration and professional development. Additionally, the study emphasizes the importance of empathy and mentorship in fostering a supportive environment. Recommendations are provided for organizations and policymakers to create more equitable and supportive frameworks, ultimately contributing to greater gender equality in the workforce. This research contributes to the broader understanding of the interplay between individual experiences and societal factors in shaping women's workforce reentry.

Career Counselling Considerations for Mothers Returning to Work

Women transitioning back to work from motherhood face complex challenges, including changes in their self-concept, priorities, self-confidence, and career-related beliefs. To effectively support mothers contemplating workforce reentry, career counsellors must understand the unique interplay between their clients’ home, community, and previous work lives and its impact on their career development. This article integrates relevant concepts from the career development theories of Super, Krumboltz, and Social Cognitive Career Theory with current literature to inform career counselling interventions aimed at optimizing the reentry experiences of mothers returning to work.

Employment of Young Adult Cancer Caregivers, Other Disease Caregivers, and Non-Caregiving Adults.

Young adults are increasingly taking on caregiving roles in the United States, and cancer caregivers often experience a greater burden than other caregivers. An unexpected caregiving role may disrupt caregiver employment, leading to lost earning potential and workforce re-entry challenges. We examined caregiving employment among young adult caregivers (i.e., family or friends) using the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which included caregiving, employment, and sociodemographic variables. Respondents’ ages varied between 18 and 39, and they were categorized as non-caregivers (n = 16,009), other caregivers (n = 3512), and cancer caregivers (n = 325). Current employment was compared using Poisson regressions to estimate adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), including gender-stratified models. We estimated employment by cancer caregiving intensity (low, moderate, high). Cancer caregivers at all other income levels were more likely to be employed than those earning below USD 20,000 (aIRR ranged: 1.88–2.10, all p < 0.015). Female cancer caregivers who were 25–29 (aIRR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.51–1.00) and single (aIRR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.52–0.95) were less likely to be employed than their counterparts. College-educated males were 19% less likely to be employed than high school-educated caregivers (95% CI = 0.68–0.98). Evaluating caregiver employment goals and personal financial situations may help identify those at risk for employment detriments, especially among females, those with lower educational attainment, and those earning below USD 20,000 annually.

Screening for COVID-19 Risk Using VIEW (COVID-19 Early Warning) System

Background: As COVID-19 continues to spread globally, a safe workforce reentry for people with elevated individual and occupational risk from COVID-19 is essential. Risk stratification may help to identify individuals with COVID-19 risk levels and take appropriate measures. Objectives: (a) To reduce the burden of (COVID-19 among) corporate health-care ecosystem by multiple layers of screening of employees and their families through Nurse Education Health Assistants (NEHA) mobile application and using VIEW (COVID-19 Early Warning System) scores. (b) To offer teleconsultation services to individuals with the assistance of doctors and NEHA coaches (c) To assess accuracy/efficacy of VIEW system. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey using NEHA mobile application was conducted among 2424 employees and their families of a leading multinational company. The human resource staff of the company collected data using NEHA application and uploaded it through a web portal. Further investigation was carried out by NEHA coaches through telephonic consultation using VIEW data. Results: More than half of the participants received the same VIEW scores by system and doctor zone, i.e., A VIEW score (58.54%), B VIEW score (59.63%), and C VIEW score (66.67%). System zone of VIEW system was compatible to categorize participants depending upon the level of risk probability toward COVID-19. Furthermore, NEHA coach and doctor gave the same VIEW scores under A (81.74%), B (67.63%), and C (38.46%). Conclusion: VIEW system is useful to detect risk probability toward COVID-19 infection and stratify patients under different VIEW zones to prioritize medical care, identify isolation needs, identify hospitalization needs at a scale.

Education Contracts of Adhesion in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Stuck inside our house with our young children during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a newfound appreciation for the vital role that elementary, middle, and high schools play in youth development and the successful functioning of both the home and workplace. At this moment, primary and secondary (K-12) schools and local school districts in the United States hold the key to workforce re-entry for parents. These school systems are positioned to impose an exacting price if they re-open for in-person instruction. Some are doing so by attempting to shift legal responsibility for student campus safety to parents using a device that we call an “education contract of adhesion.” Grounded in terms that are non-negotiable and arcane, this device demands that parents waive their rights to bring suit if their minor children become ill or die due to COVID-19 acquired through school participation. In this article, we examine this device, we call it the “education contract of adhesion,” in the context of K-12 public and private schools re-opening partially or fully residentially during the current pandemic. Our hope is that this essay will bring greater attention to the problematic dynamic that “education contracts of adhesion” pose in this context; in general, a “contract of adhesion” describes so-called “contracts” prepared by one party, to be signed by the party in a weaker position, with the weaker party having little to no choice about the terms. We see these “education contracts of adhesion” as driven by motives in conflict with the core, traditional, and advertised aims of school: to nurture and cultivate students and to prepare them to become members of a liberal democracy facing serious and growing threats from authoritarian forces, both private and public.

Beyond morbidity and mortality: The practicality of measuring patient-reported outcomes in trauma

Background: The 2016 Zero Preventable Deaths report highlighted the need for comprehensive injury data to include long term outcomes such as societal and workforce re-entry. Currently, postinjury quality of life is poorly understood. We hypothesized that routine measurement of patient-reported outcomes is feasible as a part of post-discharge follow-up, and that trauma patients would report that their injury had a detrimental impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after discharge.Methods: After instruction, patients self-administered the PROMIS-29 instrument in our outpatient office (11/2019-4/2020). We surveyed 7 domains: Participation in Social Roles/Activities, Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, Pain Interference, Physical Function, and Sleep Disturbance. Results are reported as means (SD) and compared to the U.S population by t-score (mean score=50). Higher scores in negatively-worded domains (e.g. “Depression”) are worse; vice versa for positively-worded domains (e.g. “Physical Function”). Repeated scores among patients returning for a second visit were analyzed using paired t-tests.Results: 103 patients completed the PROMIS-29. Mean (SD) age was 42.3 (17.3) years, 75% were male, and 42% suffered a penetrating injury. Median length of stay was 3 days and median time from injury to clinic visit was 18 days. Mean scores were worse than population means in every domain. Pain Interference (mean 63.5, 95%CI [61.8-65.3]) and Physical Function (38.0 [36.2-39.8]) were particularly affected. Among patients returning for a second visit (n=10; median time between clinic visits: 17.5 days), there were no significant differences in domain scores over time.Conclusion: Trauma patients are at high risk for poor quality of life outcomes in the short term following injury. Our results highlight the need for early recognition and multidisciplinary treatment following injury.

Structure and Control of Healthy Worker Effects in Studies of Pregnancy Outcomes.

Much of the literature on the healthy worker effect focuses on studies of chronic disease and mortality; however, when studying pregnancy outcomes, these effects might differ because of the short, defined risk periods of most pregnancy outcomes. Three pregnancy-specific healthy worker effects have also been described, but the structure of these effects has not yet been investigated when occupational exposure, and not employment status, is the exposure of interest. We used directed acyclic graphs to examine healthy worker effects in studies of occupational exposures and pregnancy outcomes: the healthy hire effect, the healthy worker survivor effect, the desperation/privilege effect (differential workforce reentry after pregnancy), the reproductively unhealthy worker effect (women with live births leave the workforce, while women with nonlive births do not), and the insecure pregnancy effect (women with adverse pregnancy outcomes reduce their exposures in subsequent pregnancies). Given our assumptions, we conclude that the healthy hire effect, the desperation/privilege effect, the reproductively unhealthy worker effect, and the insecure pregnancy effect result from confounding that can be addressed if data on measured confounders, such as employment status, are available. The presence of the healthy worker survivor effect, however, varies by study design. Different types of healthy worker effects can be present in studies of occupational exposure and pregnancy outcomes, and many of them are easily addressed analytically.

The effect of post-retirement employment on health

Abstract This paper investigates the causal impact of re-entering the labour force from retirement on self-rated health and depressive symptoms paying careful attention to potential differences by gender. To address the potential endogeneity of work force re-entry, we use an instrumental variables approach in a conditional mixed process model combined with a correlated random effects specification estimated on data from 11 waves of the U.S. Health and Retirement Study. Results indicate a beneficial effect of post-retirement employment on self-assessed health and depressive symptoms for both women and men.

Fostering job search among older workers: the case for pension reform

Abstract Employment rates among senior workers (aged 55 or over) in southern Europe are among the lowest in OECD economies. Spain is a paradigmatic example, with high unemployment rates and very low workforce reentry rates for unemployed workers. Poor demand is typically blamed for this problem, but the interaction of pension rules and unemployment insurance may also play an important role in this outcome. Generous unemployment benefits, lax search requirements for the unemployed and strong early retirement penalties imposed on “regular” retirees effectively create an alternative path to early retirement. In this paper, we explore this alternative path quantitatively. We develop a model of job search and retirement behavior, calibrate it to the specificities of the Spanish case and verify its empirical validity in a large administrative dataset of employment histories. We then explore the effectiveness of pension reform in increasing the labor supply and overall welfare. We link early retirement penalties to the age at which an individual stops paying contributions. This reform removes the incentives to remain unemployed without searching and thus encourages individuals to either retire or actively engage in job seeking. The reform also leads to significant welfare losses, especially among the previously non-participating unemployed who are close to the early retirement age; however, the reform also raises sufficient additional resources that public authorities can use to compensate all affected workers. JEL codes J64; J68; J26

Attitudes Toward and Outcomes of Organizational Work-Family Balance Policies

Organizations that implement family-friendly policies, such as maternity or parental leave, help to reduce work-family conflict that might appear, especially surrounding the birth of a child. Parental leave policies, specifically maternity leave, are common in organizations across many parts of the world, and these policies benefit families, in terms of reducing stressors surrounding the birth of children, and organizations, in terms of attracting and retaining employees, as well as helping employees to reduce work-family conflict. In the present symposium, we present four papers that provide a more nuanced understanding of how leave policies positively and negatively affect employees. Issues such as perceptions of equity, discrimination, career wage growth, and spousal spillover effects are explored. We also provide practical recommendations for organizations considering the implementation of family-friendly workplace policies. Strategies to reduce hiring discrimination against parents Presenter: Amanda J Anderson; George Mason U. Presenter: Eden King; George Mason U. Understanding attitudes toward parental leave policies Presenter: Wendy J. Casper; The U. of Texas at Arlington Presenter: Dynah A Basuil; The U. of Auckland Does parental leave positively impact wages over time? The impact of workers’ socioeconomic Status Presenter: Grace Lemmon; DePaul U. Presenter: Jenny M. Hoobler; U. of Illinois at Chicago A dynamic inter-spousal spillover model for understanding post-maternity workforce reentry Presenter: Anthony R. Wheeler; U. of Rhode Island Presenter: Laura M. Little; U. of Georgia

When Do the Unemployed Jump in the Workforce?

This paper studies an optimal consumption and portfolio choice problem for unemployed people who have an option to work. Our problem is to find optimal consumption, risky investment, and workforce re-entry strategies for the unemployed. We find a closed form of the critical wealth level to re-enter the workforce. We show that the unemployed with a higher disutility of labor or a larger relative risk aversion are more reluctant to re-enter the workforce.

Securing and Sustaining Employment: Concerns of HIV Patients in Singapore

Employment sustainability is one of the most pressing issues inflicting people living with HIV (PLHIV). A qualitative approach was used to elucidate the perceived challenges in sustaining their employment and the perceived barriers in re-entering the workforce for HIV patients. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 patients from an acute hospital in Singapore. The main challenges raised in sustaining employment were: (1) ability to ensure secrecy of diagnosis from employers, (2) ability to secure financial resources for treatment and sustenance, (3) ability to ensure stable health to meet job requirements, (4) ability to cognitively sit with the concerns of uncertainty and limitations in career, and (5) ability to work through discriminatory workplace practices. The perceived barriers in gaining workforce re-entry were: (1) fear of pre-employment medical screening and potential discriminatory practices at workplace, (2) concerns over health (frequent hospital admissions, physical weakness, and existing medical co-morbidities), and (3) psychosocial challenges (unstable accommodation, older age, financial issues, and trade skills limitation). The overarching factor that influences the success of sustaining and securing an employment among HIV patients is secrecy of the diagnosis. The individuals' health status, financial status and access to healthcare, and other psychosocial challenges further compound the issue.

Voices from the Working Lives Project: The Push-pull of Work and Care

A recent policy direction in many OECD countries has been to increase workforce participation for women of childbearing age; a policy direction which seemingly runs counter to a need for improved work-life balance for women themselves. This article explores the impact of this somewhat contradictory ‘push-pull’ of policy by examining some difficulties of workforce participation, transition and re-entry articulated by female case study participants from an Australian Research Council funded study, which examined the career decision-making of contemporary Australian workers. Against a backdrop of the larger study, this article features detail from interviews with skilled women workers on their return from maternity leave, particularly addressing their difficult transitions between work and care and their varying responses to workplace marginalisation. In light of policy initiatives aimed to boost workforce participation, this article aims to contribute to raising the profile of issues surrounding the cost of parenting to contemporary women.

America’s Displaced Worker: Resources for Successful Workforce Re-entry

The United States has suffered record unemployment and underemployment for the past decade. According to surveys conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, the most consistent responses for worker displacement have been insufficient work and plant or company closure and relocation. To recover, the U.S government has encouraged unemployed and displaced workers to enroll in community and technical colleges to develop the skills needed to compete in our global economy. The future of the nation’s global competiveness and international relevance depends heavily on the quantity and quality of skilled workers produced. This purpose of this article is to showcase some of the statistical data available concerning unemployed Americans, the factors contributing to the displacement of workers, the financial cost of the displaced worker, and the federal programs designed to assist displaced workers with acquiring postsecondary credentials and skills for successful workforce re-entry. Emphasized in this article is the importance of goal setting and potential career options for the displaced worker and adult learner.

Enhancing Work-Focused Supports for People with Severe Mental Illnesses in Australia

Persons with severe mental illness (SMI) have reduced workforce participation, which leads to significant economic and social disadvantage. This theoretical review introduces the strategies that have been implemented to address this issue. These include Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services, the most widely researched form of supported employment, to which cognitive remediation has more recently been recognised in the USA, as an intervention to improve employment outcomes by addressing the cognitive impairments often experienced by people with SMI. The authors review the international literature and discuss specifically the Australian context. They suggest that Australia is in a prime position to engage clients in such a dual intervention, having had recent success with increasing access to supported employment programs and workforce reentry, through implementation of the Health Optimisation Program for Employment (HOPE). Such programs assist with gaining and maintaining employment. However, they do not address the cognitive issues that often prevent persons with SMI from effectively participating in work. Thus, optimising current interventions, with work-focused cognitive skills development is critical to enhancing employment rates that remain low for persons with SMI.

Neuropsychological functioning as a predictor of employment activity in a longitudinal study of HIV-infected adults contemplating workforce reentry

Cognitive deficits are associated with HIV disease, and HIV-related cognitive deficits have been associated with declines in everyday functioning and vocational status. We administered a baseline neuropsychological (NP) test battery designed to assess estimated full-scale IQ, achievement, attention/concentration, executive function, language, mental speed, motor function, nonverbal memory, verbal memory, and visual-spatial function to a sample of 174 disabled, HIV-positive individuals enrolled in a randomized, controlled trial of a vocational-rehabilitation program. We then used these NP scores to predict employment at the end of participants' study participation, using both hierarchical multiple regression and ordinal logistic regression models. The hierarchical multiple regression analyses did not predict participants' employment activities at the end of study participation. In the ordinal logistic regression model, executive functioning weakly predicted employment status at the end of study participation and inspection of the predicted classifications revealed that 63% of the participants were incorrectly classified using this model. These results suggest that although predicting workforce reentry from NP testing may be statistically significant, NP testing may be of limited clinical value for informing the workforce reentry of disabled people with HIV who are interested in returning to work.

Should i stay at home or should i go back to work? workforce reentry influences on a mother's decision‐making process

The authors examine the literature pertaining to women's life transitions and the difficult decision‐making process some women encounter when reentering the workforce after a period of staying at home with young children. On the basis of the unique challenges faced by this population, the authors created a conceptual framework (i.e., the Mother's Reentry Into the Workforce Conceptual Framework) to demonstrate this difficult decision‐making process. The framework examines driving forces, filters, and outcomes specific to this population. Implications for employment counselors are shared. Group employment counseling is suggested as an ideal format to provide support to women during this transitional period.

Working with HIV/AIDS: Who Attempts Workforce Reentry Following Disability?

New treatments for HIV/AIDS resulted in improved health, increased life expectancy, and improved life quality among people with HIV/AIDS, leading some to contemplate or attempt workforce reentry. Little is known about factors that distinguish people with HIV/AIDS who attempt workforce reentry from those who do not. We compared a sample of 235 people with HIV/AIDS enrolled in a workforce-reentry assistance project with 51 people with HIV/AIDS who were not on demographic, health, mental health, and substance abuse measures. We observed a consistent pattern of improved health among those who enrolled in the program compared to those who did not. No other pattern of group differences was observed, but both groups evidenced indices of poorer mental health and higher rates of substance abuse than suggested by national norms. People with HIV/AIDS contemplating workforce reentry may appropriately weigh their health and its implications for workforce reentry and the potential impact of employment on their health in deciding whether or not to attempt workforce reentry.

Psychosocial needs of HIV-positive individuals seeking workforce re-entry

With the advent of more effective treatments and corresponding improvement in morbidity and mortality, people living with HIV and AIDS are increasingly considering a return to the workplace. This study examined subjective and objective indicators of need among a sample of 235 HIV-infected individuals entering a vocational rehabilitation programme for people with HIV. In addition to help with training and job placement, participants indicated a need for assistance with finances, money management, housing access and access to health care, as well as with alcohol or drug problems, legal problems and social relationships. Subsequent to learning of their diagnoses, the sample reported a median decrement in financial resources of 60%. Over half had experienced housing instability in the year prior to entering the study, including 15% who had been homeless, even though most were linked to case management services. A third had used illegal drugs in the prior month, 41% drank to intoxication and 20% lacked even monthly phone contact with friends. Results suggest that back to work programmes for people with HIV and AIDS will need to address a broad range of psychosocial issues beyond job training and placement.

Refresher course for inactive RNs facilitates workforce reentry.

A refresher course developed in conjunction with a local community college has been successful in facilitating workforce reentry by inactive and retired RNs. Support of the program by the hospital and exposure to the hospital during the clinical practicum, has reaped benefits as the majority of participants have sought employment upon completion of the course.