Employer Partnerships

Supportive Returner Hiring 
Are you looking to recruit and retain the hidden talent pool of high-calibre career break professionals – over 90% women?
=> Bring fresh perspectives, loyalty and resilience to strengthen your teams
=> Improve your gender balance at mid to senior levels 
=> Increase hiring inclusion and deliver measurable social value
 
We are the market-leading experts in supportive returner hiring and retention, the trusted partner of leading returner employers including JPMorganChase, the Bank of England, Amazon, Goldman Sachs and the Irish Civil Service

 

With a human-centric approach, we help employers to access and support returner talent through returnships, supported hiring jobs and retraining programmes

Who Are Our Returner Community?

We can connect you with experienced professionals, with a range of professional skills and qualifications, who are ready to return.

We have a subscribed Professional Community of 10,000 returners, with rich diversity and depth of experience:

  • Over 90% are women
  • Aged from late 20s to early 60s, averaging early to mid 40s
  • Over 50% have 10+ years of professional experience
  • Over 50% have postgraduate or professional qualifications
  • Over 50% are from non-white ethnic backgrounds
  • Career breaks range from 1 to 20+ years, averaging 4 to 6 years 

Why Partner With Us?

We’re the market-leading experts.

We’re not just part of the conversation – we’ve helped define it.

Leading organisations vouch for the benefits of our partnership – read what they say about us here.

Career Returners has been the trusted voice in returner hiring for over 11 years: shaping policy, influencing practice and supporting thousands of professionals back into meaningful work:

  • We’ve built successful partnerships with over 200 organisations 
  • We’ve supported 4,500 returners back into meaningful work
  • Our typical conversion rates to ongoing employment for returnships are over 80%

What We Offer?

Our approach is human-centred – we work together to set you up to succeed.

We’re a strategic partner with tailored solutions – not just a job board.

We provide tiered and flexible services to fit a range of budgets.

We provide end-to-end support to maximise success for both returners and employers:

  • Career Returners Coaching
  • Line Manager Training
  • Interviewer Training
  • Connection to the hard-to-reach returner talent pool
  • Advisory and programme management support
  • Full recruitment services
  • Co-hosted events

Delivering Social Value

Public sector procurement increasingly rewards suppliers who deliver lasting social value. Our returner initiatives offer a powerful, measurable way to meet expectations in line with the Government’s Social Value Model — helping you deliver impact that goes beyond the bottom line.

Let’s Partner Together 

Whether you’re starting small or thinking big, the Career Returners team is here to help you deliver – for your business, your teams and your social value goals. 

With over a decade of experience, we know what works and what doesn’t.

Contact Us to explore how we can support your talent strategy

What our Employer Partners say about us

EDF logo
“We’re always on the lookout for new diverse talent pools so having a returners programme seemed a great addition to our current recruitment channels. Returners have amazing past work experiences with skills that are in short supply in the open recruitment market – this coupled with their enthusiasm and energy has made the investment in a Returners Programme very worthwhile. Career Returners provided us with all the support we needed in setting up our programme and we’ve received some great feedback about the coaches and support provided to the returners themselves. We’re looking forward to building on the success of this year’s scheme.”
Head of HR
EDF Business Solutions
Print
“J.P. Morgan launched the ReEntry Programme in 2013 in New York with the goal of offering experienced professionals who are on a career break of two years or more the support and resources needed to relaunch their careers. We extended our programme to the UK in 2015 and we’re really happy to be part of a cross-industry network here that shares learnings and best practices. ReEntry today operates in 20 locations around the world, and we could not be more proud of our returners and the team who work so hard to make this happen."
Global ReEntry Program Lead
J.P.Morgan
BT logo
"Attracting and retaining diverse talent is a key priority for us in BT Business. Career Returners have helped us access a truly diverse pool of talent that matched the critical skills that we need for our teams. We have been blown away with the calibre, engagement and potential of the 18 colleagues who make up our first 2024 cohort. The guidance and expertise that Career Returners provide has helped us put some real structure and rigour into how we support Returners when they join BT Business. They understand the Returner demographic so well. Returning to the workplace after an extended break is a huge step, so getting this right and ensuring the transition back to the workplace is as smooth and supported as can be is really important to us. We’re looking forward to working with Career Returners again this year."
Head of Talent Acquisition
BT
DEL_PRI_CMYK
“Women Returners [now Career Returners] was an obvious partner for us to work with on our pilot returnship in 2022, based on their unmatched return-to-work experience and knowledge. Their expert advice and guidance at every step of the design, engagement and recruitment stages was invaluable and their Manager Training and Returner Coaching provided essential tailored support. The partnership ensured that the pilot was a huge success and the returner programme has become a key part of our Inclusion strategy. We look forward to continuing our strong working relationship."
Inclusion Lead and Return to Work Programme Manager
Deloitte Ireland
Bank of England 150x100 Conf sponsor
“The Bank has found partnering with Women Returners [now Career Returners] truly invaluable. They have been involved with our programme since its inception in 2018 and were successfully re-awarded the contract following a competitive retender process. Their expertise in the Returner market and the advice, guidance, and support that they have been able to provide has been incredibly useful. Our Career Returners Programme has welcomed over 100 professionals who have taken career breaks ranging from 2 to nearly 30 years and has a very high conversion rate to permanent colleagues. We’re looking forward to continuing the partnership with [Career] Returners.”
Programme Lead
Bank of England