Background
This ReThink HK Roundtable, convened by Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk) and its EmpowHER2B platform, examined how employers can enable female carers to re‑enter and remain in the workforce. Hong Kong’s opportunity is substantial of ~600,000 women currently out of the workforce due to domestic duties, an estimated 100,000 intend to return. As of August 2025, EmpowHER2B has engaged 550+ carers; 60% are tertiary‑educated with 6+ years’ professional experience, and most have 5+ years’ career breaks.
Session Goals
- Map the end‑to‑end talent journey (attraction, onboarding, retention, off‑boarding) for female carers
- Define workable flexibility models and near‑term pilot opportunities for employers
- Brainstorm ideas and cases toward a practical employer playbook
What we validated
“FLEXIBILITY” IS PERCEIVED AS THE BINDING CONSTRAINT
- When asked about top challenges in engaging female returnees, “Reliability/Flexibility”was the top concern (avg 4.0/5), ahead of Skill Relevance (3.4), Manager Buy‑In (3.3), and Budget (3.2); Policy/Legal was least concerning (2.4).
- For an employee, it might mean a specific, consistent block of unavailable time.
- For an employer, it might mean inconsistent hours. It is crucial to communicate these terms clearly during hiring
LIMITED AWARENESS ON HOW TO UNTAP CARER POTENTIALS
- Some attendees noted that there is a lack of awareness among employers—including senior leadership, HR, and external hiring agents—about the availability and readiness of mothers and carers in the talent market.
- A significant challenge is persuading line managers to accept flexible working hours and hire returning mothers.
MINOR SHIFTS IN ENGAGEMENT CAN MAKE OUTSIZED IMPACT
- “Project-based” and “task-based” work were viewed as the most mutually beneficial formats. Other suggestions included flexible hours and locations, and “term-time employment” where employees could take summers and Christmas off.
- Company culture and strong leadership support are critical for successfully implementing flexible work initiatives.
- Providing a “checklist” was voted as the most helpful small procedural change a company could make to facilitate hiring more returnees.
Advice for Employers
- Measure outcomes, not inputs. Move performance management and approvals away from hours and desk time.
- Design roles for predictability. Offer fixed AM/PM blocks, four‑day weeks, or term‑time roles with explicit availability and openly communicate expectations.
- Start where the ROI is clearest. Use project/task pilots to align spend to deliverables and to de‑risk budget concerns.
- Treat the journey as a loop. Support staying (e.g., parental leave, buddying) and re‑recruit when life transitions change availability.
Models and Success Stories
Real-world examples of successes shared at the Roundtable include:
- Local Conglomerate: Successfully integrated four returning mothers through part-time engagements and flexible shift arrangements, one of whom has been with the company for 10 years.
- Toy Subscription Startup: Three mothers share one job and work as a team to jointly cover the employer’s expectations and each other’s availabilities.
- Tech Startup: An experienced mother have secured full-time manager roles in digitalisation and system migration following a shadowing experience as exposure.
- Financial Institution: Its corporate marketing team actively hires mothers as contractors and specialists for project-based work especially for one-off / festive client events.
- Construction Firm: A one-day shadowing programme served as an “extended interview” leading to part-time roles within the business.
Follow-Up Actions
LAUNCH PLAYBOOK AND OUTREACH
SVhk team will compile these components into a new employer playbook for online release in late October 2025.
TEST NEW ENGAGEMENT FORMATS
Employers can rethink role design with task-based components, buddy systems, honest expectation setting to tap into the female carer talent market.
IMPROVE MATCHING AND FACILITATION
SVhk team will work with like-minded employers to test our propretary “Workstyle Compass” to better match returnees with suitable roles.