People across the world have lost loved ones and livelihoods to the pandemic. For Yudhvir Mor, country manager and vice president of Zuor, it truly hit home when a couple of his close friends and an ex-colleague died of Covid 19.
“I know their families, spouses and kids. I felt strongly that I must do something to make sure they have financial stability,” says Mor, who is based in Noida. And that’s why he, along with a few friends and ex-colleagues, launched Covid Women Help on May11 this year to empower women who have lost their partners to Covid-19. The idea is to enable and equip them to enter the workforce so that they can take care of their families.
The initiative doesn’t accept donations or sponsorship. “We rely on individual volunteers and their expertise to help the women. We already have more than 4,500 volunteers with varied backgrounds — career coaches, skill developers, and industry leaders,” says Mor. “Our initial target is to assist at least 1,000 women.”
Women who need help can contact Covid Women Help through their website. Once they receive an application, they evaluate the kind of help the woman requires. “If it is career related, a volunteer connects with the candidate to understand her education, experience, location preference and type of work she wants,” says Mor.
The volunteer then provides career counselling and assists in the creation or updating of resumes. Resumes are matched to job openings and shared with potential employers. Volunteers also assist them in preparing for interviews.
“The main goal is to make it as easy as possible for the grieving woman to find a way forward,” Mor says, adding that they are working with organisations that have a strong corporate social responsibility policy.
For example, a Delhi-based volunteer Seema Parikh has been volunteering with Covid Women Help since May of this year. Mor is part of the team that connects with the female candidates after they have uploaded their information to the website.
“Many have never worked before, and some have been out of work for years, so I also assist them in revising and uploading their resumes.,” added Mor.
Bengaluru-based Vibhuthi Sharma, a core team member and emotional intelligence coach, says she uses her personal network to help find placements.
“About 70% of the women who have contacted us are qualified professionals such as computer engineers. Some had to take a career break once they had babies,” says Vibhuti, adding that most are aged 28 to 35 years and have young children. “Though grief-stricken, all of them have the strong drive to get back on their feet. And now, many corporates are ready to help.”
So far, 10,000 women have reached out for help. “We submitted more than 3,000 profiles to different employers and there are more than100 confirmed job offers,” says Mor.
