May 28, 2018

“Like many new mothers, Bobbie Grafeld left the workforce to take care of her children just as her career started to peak. When she tried to re-enter the job market, she felt her six years away from the office cancelled out all her prior experience and skills…So when a colleague told Grafeld about Path Forward, an paid internship program for women and men who have at least five years of professional experience and are looking to return to work after taking a career pause of at least two years for caregiving, Grafeld immediately wanted to bring the program to Walmart Labs…

Participants will be paired with seasoned managers and mentors to help them navigate their return to the workforce, Grafeld says. The program places an emphasis on learning and development, and the gaining and retraining of skills, such as software engineering and product development, Grafeld says. During those 16 weeks, the interns will have the opportunity to assess Walmart as a company, and Walmart will be able to assess them as an employee. The hope is that qualified candidates will be offered full-time employment at Walmart after the program ends, Grafeld says. Walmart also will be looking at ways to expand the program.”</blockquote

Read the entire Forbes article here.