Throughout my time in the Veterinary profession, we have seen a dramatic shift in the female to male ratio. A study by the AVA in 2021 showed that a little over 68% of participants were female and just under 32% were male. Recently the Australian Government conducted a survey on labor market insights which showed of the 10,700 veterinary nurses in Australia, 97% of these are female, with the median age being 29.

So how can we help these mothers returning into the workforce? Are you a mother returning into the workforce? Today we will talk about 'How to juggle all the balls'. Childcare sickness, finding childcare, school holidays, mum guilt...... there are so many things to consider.

As a mother of two young tackers, returning into the workforce twice, I feel I have ticked all of those boxes just mentioned. Today let's talk about the logistics. How do we effectively manage to be an employee, a mum, a friend, a partner without crashing and burning.

Let's talk about the key pillars to make this transition more successful, do you know your rights as a working mother? Or do you have co-workers that you can't wait to have back in your team after welcoming their little one? And how can you help them with this transition process? How can we make changes to the industry to support the mums- is it that we need better flexibility with working hours for school mums? Better facilities for breastfeeding mothers?

Any mother that has returned to the workplace can testify that it is a challenging time, it is a stressful, it is an emotional, the constant feeling of letting someone down- whether it be your team mates or your child.
So let's chat today about how we can minimize some of these feelings. And what it takes to help get the best of your return into the workforce as a mother.