Imagine a world in which new moms could resume their careers, but on their own time.
Now, meet The Second Shift, a new website that pairs moms who left their professional careers with companies looking to hire freelancers and consultants.
The company was founded almost a year ago by two friends and mothers, Jenny Galluzzo and Gina Hadley. They started out with one simple goal: to create part time work for women with experience in finance and marketing.
The idea for The Second Shift was born when Galluzzo and Hadley noticed friends and fellow mothers in New York City were stepping down from their professional careers because they didn’t want to spend their entire days in an office, away from their babies.
Galluzzo and Hadley enlisted the help of a friend and mom of two, Kemp Steib, as the company’s CFO. Steib had recently left her job at an investment firm. Reflecting on women in the financial sector, Steib said, “I had these brilliant peers 10 years ago, and so many of them were gone.”
Since its founding, the company has connected women with 45 project-based jobs, has 300 members, and 500 potential members, whose applications are currently being reviewed for placement.
The best part? Membership is completely free. According to The New York Times, “The Second Shift makes money when a job is successfully matched; employers pay 15 percent of the total fee on top of the agreed-upon salary, and members have 5 percent deducted from their payment as a service fee.”
So what kinds of companies are head hunting through The Second Shift? For reference, professionals from Condé Nast and Google attended a mixer hosted by the service in October.
