work-life balance

Fancy Consulting Firms Miss Their Moms

Photo: Nicole Hill/Corbis

Consulting giant McKinsey & Co. is “quietly” trying to lure back former employees who left to start families, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company has been public about its struggle to retain female talent. Women only account for 25 percent of the firm’s intake, McKinsey said, and are often too intimidated to come back after taking time off with children. (Who wouldn’t dread striding back into an room of type-A Harvard MBAs after spending several years in the uninterrupted company of someone who barely knows his colors, let alone the latest predictive models?) McKinsey’s competitors at Bain & Co. and Boston Consulting Group also keep tabs on female alumni, offering flexible return to-work options and making some women part-time partners. It’s hopeful news for gender equity in the workplace and all, but now who will trim the fat from the out-of-control PTA bake sale?

Fancy Consulting Firms Miss Their Moms