Nearly 70 per cent of women in the GCC want to better their skills to aid a return to the workplace, but four in five believe there is not enough support to do so, according to a new survey.

There is a huge disparity between the support females need in order to make their journey back to work a smooth one, and what is currently on offer in the GCC region, said the survey carried out by the women-only portal Hopscotch.

Of the types of skills women felt would be beneficial to learn, the survey showed that 67 per cent would like to gain more confidence, just over half wanted to brush up on their social media skills and 64 per cent wanted to improve their personal effectiveness.

Building on the huge success of the first series back in May and June this year, Hopscotch will launch a second workshop, this time in partnership with Mastercard. It will take place on November 14 in Dubai,UAE on the topic of personal effectiveness.

MasterCard’s, senior vice president of HR, Scott Tierney, said: “We are excited to partner with Hopscotch on the Personal Effectiveness Workshop to support women in the UAE on their journey back into the workplace.

“Mastercard has a number of policies in place to support flexible working for employees to ensure they find a balance between their work and home life. Done well and with the right level of management buy-in across the company, we recognise that the benefits of having flexible working practices to businesses are substantial.”

In a further commitment to the cause, Hopscotch launched its One to One Training service offering personal coaching in August this year with free initial consultations.  From December, the company will also be collaborating with another key sponsor to offer Skills Sessions once a month designed to inspire, educate and train attendees in key skills and will be a strategic partner of the Careers UAE event next April in Dubai.

Hopscotch co-founder and MD Helen McGuire, said: “Our aim at Hopscotch is to support women in their quest for work. Our first Workshop Series was overwhelmingly popular with 98 per cent of the women who attended recommending one of our Workshops to others.”

“We are very pleased to be able to announce an ongoing commitment to the training concept. We know from our ongoing contact and feedback from women that there is a real desire to have that personal connect with a profession and through our Workshops, Power Sessions and One to One service, we are working to guide them in that process and, in turn, help them find their ideal job through us,” she added. – TradeArabia News Service