Concord Company Helps Women Get Back To Work With 'Return-Ships'

CONCORD (CBS) - Cathy Taylor of Wellesley works in information technology at Fidelity Investments. It's a far cry from her career before taking time off for family.

"I started my career in marketing, doing consumer packaged goods brand management," she told WBZ-TV.

Like many women, when she was ready to go back to work, Cathy had no idea where to begin.

"You start to wonder if your skills still relevant," she recalled.

That's when she reached out to reacHIRE, a Concord-based company dedicated to getting experienced women back into the work force. According to company founder Addie Swartz, a lot can change in those years when women are raising families, or taking time off for any number of reasons.

"If you've been out eight-to-ten years, the job that you left is most likely not the job that's there today," she said.

In an effort to bridge that gap, Swartz and her team work with women to update their skills. Then the women are placed in temporary positions at some of Massachusetts' best companies.

"So often these are called 'return-ships,'" she explained.

ReachHIRE has placed dozens of women and many of these opportunities turn into permanent positions, like Cathy's job at Fidelity.

Cathy is thrilled with her new position and doesn't think she would ever have ended up there without help. "I had never done anything with technology nor in financial services before. ReacHIRE looked at my background and said 'You have a lot of transferable skills," she said.

The best part is reaHIRE's services are completely free for the women.