In the Malayalam movie, ‘How Old Are You?’, there is a relevant question: “Who sets the deadline for women’s dreams?” A study conducted in 2019 by professors at the Universities of Manchester and Essex discovered that working mothers with children were 18 per cent more stressed out than others. Mothers with two or more children were 40 per cent more stressed out. The study also found that a large number of women quit their jobs because their personal lives and work were not balanced. There are thousands of women who have left their jobs to be moms. And when some of them try to return to work after taking a career break, employers do not take a very welcoming stance.
This is where the Kochi-based start-up, Eightwe Digital Transformations, comes in. “I was raised by a single mother. I have seen lots of mothers show a great deal of work expertise in their official lives. Eightwe was created as a result of such personal convictions. Things got easier when an experienced hand like Bhavana Pareek came along as co-founder,” said Sujith S, a biomedical entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Ibis Medical Equipment and Systems Pvt. Ltd. It all started when Sujith wondered why skilled housewives couldn’t find 100 per cent work-from-home opportunities. With help from Bhawana, a senior technical program manager at Ola Cabs who also had similar thoughts, the startup Eightwe Digital Transformations was formed.
According to Sujith, seventy per cent of the company’s employees are mothers, of which thirty per cent are single mothers. “We often refer to working and single mothers as super moms, a concept we coined,” he added.
During Covid-induced lockdowns, work from home system was really taking off. It helped companies move forward smoothly despite the crisis. According to Bhavana, age is not a barrier to being a part of Eightwe. “All you need is a degree, basic knowledge of English, a laptop with an internet connection, and an interest in digital content. Work can be completed at convenient times. The company estimates that this will help maintain the work-life balance of employees. At the same time, the larger purpose is to help women achieve financial security and independence,” she said.
Eightwe is a B2B startup that connects medical device sellers and buyers from around the world on a single platform. The aim is to help Indian medical device manufacturers find customers in the global market through digital networking. Bhawana said, “Many companies have a misconception that they will not receive full productivity from mom employees. However, they are a highly skilled group who are under-utilised.”