Hiring Stay-at-Home Moms

Your best talent pool is closer to home than you think: Well-educated Gen X moms with impressive resumes are leaving the work force to raise children, but they're keeping a toe in the work waters. "Our research shows that two out of three stay-at-home moms are generating some kind of income," says Maria Bailey, a Pompano Beach, Florida, expert on the mom market and author of Marketing to Moms.

Gen X work-at-home moms are highly skilled, flexible, cost-effective labor. "I'm just floored by the resumes we get," says Allison Karl O'Kelly, founder of Atlanta-based Mom Corps, which matches companies with moms looking for part-time or project-based work. "Seventy-five percent have worked at top firms or Fortune 500 companies at the manager or director level."

Local parenting magazines, Craigslist, or "mom sites" such as http://www.hbwm.com and http://www.momsmakingmoney.org can help companies connect with moms. K-12 schools might help you get the word out, too. "Network among moms who have children in the first grade or fifth grade," Bailey suggests. "These are the times in a mom's life when they suddenly have more time in their day."

Chris Pentilla is a freelance journalist in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, area.

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This article was originally published in the January 2007 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Hiring Stay-at-Home Moms.