Freshworks Career ReStart Program Empowers Women to Rejoin the Workforce

SAN MATEO, Calif. and CHENNAI, India, March 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Freshworks Inc. (NASDAQ: FRSH), a leading software company empowering businesses to delight their customers and employees, announced today – on International Women’s Day – the launch of its Career ReStart program in the US after a successful returnship initiative in India helped to increase gender parity in the technology sector.

The program in India kicked off in November 2021, with a goal to find talent in the areas of Sales and Marketing, product management and engineering. After receiving over 1,000 applications, 74 women were shortlisted to complete an interview training workshop. From there, 18 women were selected to complete a 16-week developmental course training S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research. The training is currently underway and once complete, Freshworks will welcome these ReStart graduates to its workforce.

The US program, in partnership with Women Back to Work, seeks to fill Customer Success and Solution Engineer Roles with Career ReStart applicants.

“We help companies that value diversity and inclusion hire career-ready returners with technical backgrounds through custom returnship programs,” said Sonu Ratra, Founder, Women Back to Work. “We look forward to partnering with Freshworks as they continue to tackle gender parity and strive to ultimately reach a 50/50 workforce across the globe.”

The Freshworks Career ReStart return-to-work program is for women who have been on a career break due to family commitments, taking a career pause to focus on motherhood, being widowed, personal health issues or other crises.

"The thought of heading back to work after a 12-year hiatus was daunting, but also exciting," said Freshworks Restart member, Asma Akram, Software Engineer. "The Freshworks Career Restart program interview workshop was thoughtful and has made me feel more confident in my interviewing skills. I am delighted to complete the next part of the training program and begin my new career journey as a member of the Freshworks kudumba."

While many returnship programs utilize a temporary or internship model, Freshworks has committed to the success of these individuals by making offers to hire all returners to full-time roles. In addition to the professional development opportunities provided by Women Back to Work, Freshworks has developed its own 12-week mentorship program for returners.

ReStart aligns with the #pledgeforequality campaign commitment Freshworks made on International Women’s Day in 2020. Suman Gopalan, Chief Human Resources Officer at Freshworks said, “We committed that by the end of 2020, women would constitute at least 30% of the workforce at Freshworks. We met that goal and increased our commitment to women making up 40% of our workforce with 20% holding leadership positions by the end of 2022. The ReStart experience seeks to be about helping bridge one’s passion with one’s potential.”

Presently, Freshworks currently has an overall workforce of 35% women, 25% who are in leadership roles. In the US, 45% women make up the workforce with 37% in leadership roles.

To learn more about Freshworks Career ReStart North America, or to apply for the program visit https://www.womenbacktowork.org/freshworks-returnship.

About Freshworks Inc
Freshworks Inc., (NASDAQ: FRSH) makes business software people love to use. Purpose-built for IT, customer support, sales and marketing teams, our products empower the people who power business. Freshworks is fast to onboard, priced affordably, built to delight, yet powerful enough to deliver critical business outcomes. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Freshworks operates around the world to serve more than 56,000 customers including Bridgestone, Chargebee, DeliveryHero, ITV, Klarna, Multichoice, OfficeMax, TaylorMade and Vice Media. For the freshest company news visit www.freshworks.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Women Back to Work
Women Back to Work is the leading returnship organization specializing in helping companies hire technical, female professionals with a career gap.

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