New Delhi [India], Mar. 6 : Online payment aggregator PayPal announced the launch of 'Recharge,' a unique six-week programme focussed on empowering women technologists to get back to work after taking time off to explore their passions, develop interests and strengthen families.

Recharge is open to women who have taken a personal career break for a period of upto five years, with at least five years of work experience in product development and analytics and with backgrounds in Java, J2EE, PEGA, test automation, release engineering and risk analytics.

Following a successful pilot in 2016, Recharge aims to equip women technologists with skills and the confidence required to help them get back to work and jumpstart their careers after a break. The programme received over 300 applications from women. Of this, 75 were invited to an event that helped them build their confidence and interview skills, followed by a boot camp that 30 shortlisted women attended. Finally, 10 participants were given the opportunity to join PayPal and continue their professional journey at the end of the initiative.

"Research has shown that only 34 percent of India's IT workforce is female and 41 percent of women in technology companies tend to leave mid-career, compared to 17 percent of men. With the success of Recharge in 2016, we look forward to once again helping women technologists rebuild their confidence, while also providing them with an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the latest trends in the tech industry as well as best practices to follow when they re-enter the workforce," said Jayanthi Vaidyanathan, ?Director-HR, PayPal.

Recharge will be rolled out in three phases, starting with a launch in Chennai and Bengaluru during the last week of March, giving around 100 women the opportunity to network with PayPal and industry leaders. Sessions will be conducted for women on updating their resumes, key skills required for a good interview and effective soft skills training.

A round of interviews will then narrow down the attendees to 30 Rechargers who will enter a three-week technology boot camp conducted by PayPal, along with industry leaders. The boot camp will focus on technology and business-oriented training to help the participants get up to speed with the latest in the industry. This includes introduction to mobile app development and Node.js as well as mentorship sessions with PayPal technology leaders in the country.

PayPal will then offer 10 participants the opportunity to work in its technology centers across Bengaluru and Chennai in roles including Software Development Engineer, Software Development - Test Engineer, Software Development Manager, Release Engineer and Risk Analyst. (ANI)