In Fujitsu’s efforts to support equal opportunity and make flexible work part of our company’s DNA, this latest blog post features three Fujitsu women, highlighting their experiences with flexible working arrangements after returning to work from maternity leave.
For Jillian Bungate being out of the workforce for 10 years as a stay at home mum made it incredibly difficult to re-apply for a job. Looking at junior roles and lacking confidence, she was grateful for the day she vented to a fellow mum who happened to work at Fujitsu. With a new role on offer that matched Jillian’s work history and studies, she willingly applied and threw herself into a full time role.
“With a husband that works a job with lots of travel, juggling online studies and two kids that never knew life with a working mum, my decision to go full time led to a crazy house, upset kids and an unhealthy lifestyle for my family. I worried over how to manage the situation thinking I’d have to resign only 8 weeks in to my grand return to work! But my manager reassured me we could make a plan to reduce my work hours as well as offering me the flexibility around when I worked those hours,” says Jillian.
Chiara Charlton experienced a similar process after having been with Fujitsu for 5 years before leaving for maternity leave. While she applied for 11 months of leave, Chiara returned to Fujitsu after 9 months off, returning four days per week initially and then increasing to five days. Chiara found the return to work very easy and was in regular contact with her new manager and other team members running the team while she was away.
“There had been an organisational change during my maternity leave and although my role stayed the same, my team and reporting structure had changed. However I was kept up to date in the months leading up to my return to work and my team were very supportive of my plans. Over the last 2 years my manager has been very accommodating if I have needed to flex my hours to care for my young daughter,” Chiara explains.
