In the UK, women lose an average of more than £65,000 over the five years following the birth of their first child.
In tech, where tools, platforms and best practices can change in as little as six months, the impact of time away can be even sharper. Returning mothers often fall behind – not because of a personal lack of ability, but because the pace of change outstrips the support offered when they come back.
A recent survey found that just 17% of women felt confident about returning to work following maternity leave, while 70% reported experiencing feelings of stress, anxiety and dread about the change.
Without structured re-entry pathways, business leaders face a higher risk of attrition, reduced productivity and most importantly, weaker gender diversity in the workplace. Creating personalised and relevant reskilling programmes, paired with post-maternity support, should be treated as a key business investment, not just a welfare initiative.
Tech skills evolve fast, and mothers pay the price
Against the backdrop of automation, the half-life of skills, referring to the time it takes for a skill to become half as valuable, is shrinking across every industry. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 found that 39% of skills are expected to be disrupted or outdated by 2030.
In tech, the cycle is even shorter. Harvard Business Review reports that the half-life of technology skills is just 2.5 years. Stepping away for a year or more during maternity leave in the UK can create a critical skills gap, putting women at a disadvantage when they re-enter the workforce. For example, Google Cloud certificates only last two years. Upon return to work, women may find their certifications have expired, preventing them from taking part in certain cloud projects. This makes it essential for organisations to facilitate dedicated time for upskilling to ensure returning employees are qualified and ready to contribute.
Simultaneously, AI skills are constantly evolving and reshaping work. Our recent Tech Skills Report found that AI expertise is a key hiring factor for 95% of organisations, while the same proportion of executives and tech professionals say AI skills are critical for job security. Women returning after maternity leave must be given the opportunity to catch up and compete in the AI-skills-driven work world.
The gendered skills gap
The post-maternity skills gap has measurable effects on women’s career progression and ultimately, the gender pay gap. While unequal pay is shaped by multiple factors, time out of the workforce remains one of the biggest.
A McKinsey study found that 80% of the 27% gender pay gap in the US stems from differences in accumulated work experience and mobility. Women tend to make lateral or downward career moves during child-rearing years, while men maintain upward mobility. Similarly, PwC found that three in five women return to lower-skilled or lower-paid roles after a career break.
In the UK, ONS data also shows that five years after the birth of their first child, mothers’ earnings are 42% lower than pre-birth levels. These gaps compound over time, feeding a persistent gender pay and progression gap, one that risks widening further as the half-life of skills continues to shorten.
Upskilling as a retention strategy
Businesses have both a moral responsibility and a commercial incentive to make re-entry to the workforce smoother for mothers to help tackle this gender inequity. Beyond the skills gap they face, over half (51%) of employees returning after maternity leave had a negative experience. Structured programmes can reverse this trend.
For example, in 2011, EY launched a UK maternity coaching initiative to reduce post-leave attrition. The scheme, offering enhanced maternity benefits, external coaching and flexible return-phase support, helped significantly improve retention within two years of return.
The most effective initiatives directly address the skills gap returners face. In fast-evolving sectors like tech, returners need curated learning paths to rebuild technical confidence and update competencies. When companies invest here, they don’t just level the playing field; they create a more innovative, loyal and diverse workforce.
However, upskilling only works if women have time to learn. Our Tech Skills Report 2025 found that 50% of UK workers struggle to find time for training, and 93% need more support. For returners already juggling new demands, learning must be built into the workday through protected learning hours, bite-sized modules and structured development pathways.
Upskilling to advance gender equity
As the pace of technological change accelerates, so too must the systems that support women’s return to work. When companies make space for continuous learning and invest in re-entry programmes, they can both empower returning mothers to rebuild confidence while reducing the attrition that so often follows maternity leave.
