Gaithersburg, MD — More than 2.5M women have left the workplace between February 2020 and January of this year, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Sodexo, a food service and facilities management company and the 19th largest employer in the world, announced today a partnership with Santa Clara-based – Women Back to Work, to help bridge the employment gap for women and provide access to hundreds of current management opportunities.
“We have more than 25,000 professional, educated, and highly qualified women in our database who have chosen to take a break in their careers for various reasons from caring for aging parents and raising children to increased work and life pressure created by the pandemic,” said Sonu Ratra, Founder of Women to Work, Co-Founder of Akraya, and a working mother who left the workforce for 18 months to focus on her newborn daughter. “We applaud companies like Sodexo who recognize that a gap in a woman’s resume is not a lack of skill or motivation.”
In fact, Women Back to Work’s database touts that 99 percent of its returners have a bachelor’s degree, 73 percent hold a master’s degree, and the average amount of work experience is 10 years. Sodexo has identified management roles in information technology, marketing, finance, communications, and human resources as initial opportunities for Women Back to Work returners.
“We are excited to continue our support of women,” said Stephanie Payne, Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Sodexo North America. “We are proud to partner with Women Back to Work and help connect women looking to re-enter the workforce with available roles at Sodexo.”
Sodexo’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, and specifically women and gender equality, is longstanding. Women make up 60 percent of Sodexo’s Board and the company has committed 40 percent of its senior roles to women by 2025. Additionally, the company’s employee resource group for women, SoTogether, has more than 1,000 members and provides ongoing professional development opportunities, networking, and resources to aid women in a variety of life stages and decisions. In 2020, Sodexo was named to NAFE’s Top Companies for Executive Women by the National Association for Female Executives, Bloomberg’s Gender-Equality Index and FORTUNE’s list of the World’s most Admired Companies.
For women interested in returning to the workforce and career opportunities within Sodexo, please visit our landing page at Women Back to Work.
About Sodexo North America
Sodexo North America is part of a global, Fortune 500 company with a presence in 64 countries. Sodexo is a leading provider of integrated food, facilities management and other services that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life for millions of customers in corporate, education, healthcare, senior living, sports and leisure, government and other environments daily. Sodexo is committed to supporting diversity and inclusion and safety, while upholding the highest standards of corporate responsibility and ethical business conduct. In support of local communities across the U.S., in 2020, the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation mobilized 10,000 Sodexo volunteers to distribute 4.1 million meals to help 5.9 million children and adults meet their immediate food needs. Since 1996, the Stop Hunger Foundation has contributed $36.7 million to help feed children in America impacted by hunger. To learn more about Sodexo, visit us.sodexo.com, and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
Madison Brennan
