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Supporting Parents in the Workplace is Key to a Sustainable Future of Work

hr & business perinatal professionals working parents Apr 07, 2025
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Parental Support Isn’t Just for Parents

When workplace conversations about supporting parents arise, they often get reduced to policies like paid leave, childcare stipends, and lactation rooms. While these are incredibly important, they miss the bigger picture: parental support isn’t just about benefits—it’s about structuring workplaces for long-term success, adaptability, and retention.

Because here’s the thing: everyone will experience a major life transition at some point in their career.

While today’s conversation may be about parental leave, tomorrow it could be: 

✅ An employee navigating a serious medical diagnosis 

✅ A team member caring for an aging parent

✅ A colleague experiencing a loss and needing bereavement leave 

✅ Someone needing a mental health break due to burnout

When companies build workplaces that support parents, they’re also creating workplaces that are prepared to support employees through all of life’s biggest transitions. The same policies, strategies, and cultural shifts that support parents will ultimately benefit everyone.

The Future of Work Demands a Shift in Mindset

Work is evolving faster than ever, and companies that fail to adapt will struggle to attract and retain top talent. Employees who lack workplace flexibility are 2.6 times more likely to quit (SHRM, 2024).

Instead of viewing parenthood as a workplace disruption, what if businesses saw it as a strategic advantage?

What if the very skills developed through parenting—adaptability, leadership, problem-solving, and resilience—were recognized as essential for navigating today’s and tomorrow’s workforce challenges?

Shifting from a transactional to a transformational approach, instead of asking what supporting parents will cost a company, it’s time to consider: 

✅ What do parents bring to the workforce? 

✅ How does supporting parents improve workplace culture for everyone? 

✅ What if supporting parents now is key to long-term workforce stability and business success?

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, the companies that thrive in the coming years will be those that integrate family-friendly, employee-centric policies into their workplace strategies. Failing to do so means losing a critical segment of the workforce—and missing policy and culture changes that could benefit all employees.

Millennials Are the Bridge Generation—And We Need Them in the Workforce

Millennials—now ages 28-44—are the largest segment of today’s workforce and the majority of new and expectant parents (Pew Research, 2020). That means supporting parents isn’t just an equity issue—it’s a workforce stability issue.

We are in the middle of one of the biggest generational workforce shifts in history: 

👥 Baby Boomers are retiring in waves. 

👥 Gen Z is entering the workforce with entirely different priorities. 

👥 Millennials—who have lived through both pre-digital workplaces and today’s AI-driven economy—are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between older and younger employees.

But millennials are also the majority of new and expectant parents. If they can’t stay in the workforce, or continue to look for new job opportunities, due to inadequate support during pregnancy, parental leave, and return-to-work transitions, businesses will face a growing talent gap and lose experienced, mid-career employees at a critical time.

The Risks of Failing to Support Parents:

🛑 Losing skilled, experienced employees at a time when retention is critical 

🛑 Overlooking an entire segment of employees already developing future-proof skills through parenting 

🛑 Widening workforce gaps by failing to build sustainable career pathways for mid-career professionals

Parents Have the Soft Skills Businesses Desperately Need

We often think of workforce skills gaps as purely technical—things like AI literacy or data analysis. But in reality, the biggest challenges facing today’s workforce are human skills: 

✅ Adaptability 

✅ Emotional intelligence 

✅ Decision-making

✅ Communication 

✅ Conflict resolution

Parenting develops all of these at an accelerated rate.

📌 A mother managing toddler meltdowns? That’s emotional intelligence and conflict resolution. 

📌 A parent juggling work schedules, childcare, and school logistics? That’s strategic thinking and project management. 

📌 A father navigating sleep deprivation while meeting deadlines? That’s resilience and adaptability.

A recent SHRM workforce report found that employees who can balance human intelligence with tech adaptability will be the most valuable moving forward (SHRM, 2024).

And who problem-solves on the fly every single day? Parents.

The Ripple Effect: Supporting Parents Benefits All Employees

A common misconception is that workplace policies supporting parents are a “special accommodation.” But in reality: 

✅ Workplace culture shifts that support parents improve culture and conditions for all employees. 

✅ Parental leave policies can serve as models for other major life transitions, such as:

  • Bereavement leave
  • Family caregiving
  • Medical leave
  • Major career shifts

The next-generation workforce is also watching. 2023 and 2024 Deloitte surveys found that 77% of Gen Z workers say work-life balance is a top priority when choosing an employer. Additionally, nearly all Gen Zs and millennials want purpose-driven work, and they are not afraid to turn down work that doesn’t align with their values.

Companies that build supportive cultures now will be best positioned to attract and retain the next wave of talent.

Burnout Is a Workplace Issue—Not Just a Parental Issue

Most workplaces overlook the impact that parental leave coverage has on other employees.

When coworkers absorb additional workloads during parental leave, they often face longer hours, added stress, and increased burnout.

📌 A 2017 report from Outten & Golden LLP found that without proper workload distribution, parental leave can create unintended burnout across teams.

🛠 Solution: Companies need to reframe parental leave as a systemic issue, not just an “individual” benefits conversation. That means: 

🔹 Creating proactive workload distribution plans & integrating parental leave planning in to strategic planning, workplace culture, and organizational & employee development 

🔹 Implementing structured return-to-work support that goes beyond logistics 

🔹 Ensuring teams aren’t stretched too thin & employees have role clarity

🔹 Recognizing the importance of consistent, continuous support and feedback loops throughout the parenting journey at key, predictable points

Supporting Parents Now Will Strengthen the Workforce Pipeline for Years to Come

There’s a massive opportunity right now to rethink how we engage parents in the workforce. Consider this: many mothers who paused their careers to focus on family will be re-entering the workforce in the next five years (World Economic Forum, 2025).

By investing in reskilling, upskilling, and return-to-work initiatives now, we can:

✅ Retain highly skilled, mid-career professionals who are ready to lead.

✅ Close generational skill gaps by harnessing the unique experiences of millennial parents.

✅ Create inclusive talent pipelines that attract and engage experienced professionals.

World Forum’s “Future of Jobs Report 2025” highlights a need for reskilling and upskilling current employees just to keep up with the rate of change predicted over the next five years. Since existing employees will need this additional training as well, it is a wonderful opportunity to consider expanding these trainings into ramp up and recruitment programs for parents looking to re-enter the workforce.

Workforce Development Efforts Overlook Millennials

Workforce development initiatives frequently target younger workers, often overlooking millennials despite their growing need for continuous learning and career advancement. Research shows that while companies invest heavily in training for new graduates and early-career professionals, mid-career employees—many of whom are millennials—often struggle to access similar opportunities (Robert Walters Group, 2020).

A survey found that 53% of millennials were dissatisfied due to the absence of a structured personal development or training program upon starting a new job (Robert Walters Group, 2020). Furthermore, data from Lorman (2023) indicates that over 70% of employees at high risk of leaving their companies would do so to advance their careers elsewhere. Organizations with strong learning cultures, however, experience 30-50% higher retention rates (Lorman, 2023).

While programs like YouthBuild focus on individuals aged 16–24 (New America, 2022), and other initiatives target young adults up to age 29 (Child Trends, 2022), there is a noticeable gap in workforce development efforts aimed at millennials. Given that this generation comprises a significant portion of the workforce and plays a key role in leadership and mentorship, ignoring their development needs is a missed opportunity for companies aiming to maintain a skilled and engaged workforce.

The same is true for workforce pipeline development. There is a major opportunity to target parents re-entering the workforce who need some re-skilling and upskilling but already bring significant expertise, maturity, and future-proof skills to the table.

Companies that see parents as integral to workforce development (not just a "benefits" conversation) will be the ones thriving in 2030 and beyond.

What Businesses Can Do Today

✅ Train managers in empathy and supporting employees through life transitions—including parental leave, caregiving, and bereavement. 

✅ Partner with perinatal professionals in addition to other health, career, and benefits specialists so employees and managers have expert guidance at key life stages. 

✅ Implement continuous feedback loops and strategic review/check-in points so parents feel supported throughout pregnancy, leave, and return-to-work transitions and can visualize themselves and their value in the organization long-term. 

✅ Develop & Expand employee recruitment, development, and  “returnship” programs to target and upskill parents re-entering the workforce, leveraging their leadership & problem-solving skills.

✅ Adopt a systemic lens and integrate natural life transitions into strategic planning, budget conversations, HR processes, organizational, culture, and employee development efforts

Final Thoughts: The Future of Work is Life- and Parent-Friendly

The companies that will thrive in the future of work will be those that recognize the long-term benefits of investing in employees’ full life cycle, not just their time in the office.

📌 This isn’t just a benefits conversation—it’s a workforce development strategy.

📌 It’s about creating workplaces that attract, retain, and support top talent—through every stage of life.

📌 It’s about future-proofing businesses by recognizing that investing in parents today creates stronger organizations for years to come.

💡 The companies that understand this now—and take action—will be the ones shaping the future of work.

Let’s Start the Conversation!

📢 Let’s build the future of work—together.

#ParentalLeave #WorkplaceSupport #FutureOfWork #HRTrends #Leadership #WorkingParents #WorkforceDevelopment #WeMakeMeaning

References

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