Johnson Matthey has formed a new partnership with STEM Returners to help STEM professionals return to work after a career break.
Johnson Matthey is a global leader in sustainable technologies and as part of its continued drive to enhance inclusion, the organisation will offer a STEM Returners programme at its sites in Swindon, Culham, and Paddington. The roles for returners will include opportunities in process engineering and procurement.
STEM Returners, a leading organisation in the UK in returner programmes, will source candidates and provide them with additional support including advice, career coaching, and mentoring; ensuring applicants are ready and confident to return to work.
Applicants will undertake a fully paid 12-week ‘returnship’ which allows candidates to be reintegrated into an inclusive work environment.
Annual research from STEM Returners (The STEM Returners Index) shows the challenges people who have had career break face, when trying to return – recruitment bias being the main barrier to entry. Sixty-six percent of STEM professionals on a career break say they are finding the process of attempting to return to work either difficult or very difficult and that nearly half (46%) of participants said they felt bias because of a lack of recent experience.
Natalie Desty, Director of STEM Returners said: “People wanting to return to work after a career break face an uphill battle, especially when they want to return to STEM industries.
“We are very proud to be entering this new partnership with Johnson Matthey, to return highly skilled people back into the industry they love. Only by partnering with industry leaders like Johnson Matthey will we make vital changes in STEM recruitment practices, to help those who are finding it challenging to return to the sector and improve diversity and inclusion.”
Rulande Rutgers, Process Technology Director for Hydrogen Technologies at Johnson Matthey said: “Integrating STEM returners into our Process Technology and Engineering departments will bring diversity of thinking as well as important competencies and experience to the teams.
“I also returned into a senior technical management role after a career break as primary carer. I remember the challenge to restore confidence in the strengths that I brought to the job. The confidence boost that the STEM Returners programme provides will enable the candidates to perform at their full potential, benefitting both them and the company.”
In March, STEM Returners launched the 2023 STEM Returners Index, an annual survey to understand STEM professionals’ experiences of trying to re-enter the sector after a career break.
The STEM Returners Index is open to all STEM professionals who have had a gap in their career or who are attempting to return to work or who have recently returned to work.
The survey is anonymous and asks a variety of questions including reasons for a career break and what challenges were faced when attempting to return to work. It will enable STEM Returners to further understand the barriers people face, track the progress UK STEM industries are making, and shine a light on the change needed to create fair opportunities for all.
The 2023 STEM Returners Index will be open until 30 June and is available at https://online1.snapsurveys.com/STEM-Returners-Index-2023.
Since STEM Returners first launched in 2017, more than 310 STEM Returners candidates have joined programmes across the UK. To view STEM Returners opportunities, visit https://www.stemreturners.com/placements/