New digital platform for finance professionals to tackle sector’s gender imbalance

A new online platform is looking to tackle gender imbalance in the financial sector.

ProJobShare will serve as a digital forum for finance professionals to explore job-sharing opportunities and meet other like-minded individuals.

Candidates register their employment history, areas of expertise and desired role with ProJobShare, which then interviews candidates and matches them with a potential job-share partner.

Users are able to meet the job-share match, giving them the chance to assess personal as well as professional compatibility.

In the second phase of its service, ProJobShare assumes the role of a traditional recruitment platform by presenting the paired-up candidates to potential employers.

London-based ProJobShare will aim to help financial services firms that are missing out on talent due to a lack of workplace flexibility.

It could also help tackle a gender imbalance in the sector. Most of the jobs available are expected to be front office, revenue-generating roles – a niche in which firms normally struggle to retain female talent, according to ProJobShare.

Founder Emily McDonald, a former bond trading professional, said: “When I became a mother, I was presented with a conflict: the high-status job that I could only do full time or a part time role that did not carry the same strategic weight and responsibility.

“Motherhood is one of many inflection points women face in their careers and unfortunately, if they are in an all or nothing profession, they often drop out in frustration. Job sharing seemed to me the most viable solution to eliminate that conflict.”

She added: “If fewer women leave their career at mid-level, it follows that the pipeline of women for the senior roles is larger.”

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