As part of its efforts towards building a diverse and inclusive workforce, Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, has introduced ‘Relaunch your Career’, a comprehensive return-to-work program targeted at women who have been away from the workplace for one year or more and are keen to return to work on a permanent basis.

The program is designed to enable highly-experienced women with work experience at mid-management level to re-enter the workplace after time away, and builds on Mastercard’s flexible working culture and its commitment to ensuring gender diversity in the workplace.

“The ‘Relaunch your Career’ program is a key diversity initiative for Mastercard – we want to help women get their on-hold career back on track by providing them with an opportunity to take up a challenging and rewarding role, while giving them the support they need to succeed,” said Scott Tierney, Sr. Vice President Human Resources, MEA, Mastercard.

“Women often find themselves having to take an extended break from work, for reasons as varied as bringing up their kids to caring for elderly family members to relocating with a partner to a new country altogether. Often, they find it tougher to return and transition back into the workplace after time away than imagined. Through this program, we are providing qualified and experienced females with the tools and support to help them find their way, so they can ease back into their professional life and re-establish their careers,” added Tierney.

The ‘Relaunch your Career’ program builds on a solid foundation to continue fostering a culture of flexibility and inclusion at Mastercard offices around the world.

As an employer of choice, Mastercard is known for offering its employees a flexible, multi-cultural work environment that helps them balance their work demands with family commitments. Employees are offered learning opportunities and are encouraged to lead or support initiatives, which can be cross-functional or cross geographies.

The ‘Relaunch your Career’ participants will be given responsibility for a commercially-focused project from the start of a 12-week placement. To immerse them into the organization and ensure they are fully familiarized with their role, they will receive support in the form of tools and learning resources, on-the-job training, and a buddy to bring them up to speed quickly. At the end of the 12 weeks, they can also apply for a permanent role with Mastercard,” added Tierney.

“Building a diverse and inclusive workforce at Mastercard is part of our DNA. We strongly believe that the more diverse we are, the better our business performs, which is why we are dedicated to cultivating an environment that respects the differences among our people while celebrating their individual strengths and abilities,” Tierney concluded.

Women seeking to enrol in the ‘Relaunch your Career’ program must have previous experience at mid-career level ideally gained in technology, financial services, e-commerce, and professional services organizations. They must also be good team players and relationship-builders, with excellent communication and interpersonal skills and great adaptability.