How many years until sahm employment gap becomes a problem?

[plantskiller]

I've taken an extra year out after maternity leave finished due to losing my job, I'm looking to go back within the next couple of years and have started applying now. The gap would be between 2-3 years. How many years until an employment gap becomes a problem? I'm happy to stay off due to childcare fees, but I'm aware that a longer gap may be an issue and I need to be back at work by the time my youngest starts school and don't want to get stuck.

I think it depends on your previous job and what job you want to get.

Professional jobs with required qualifications and jobs with high turnover are probably easier to step back into than your general office roles with low barriers to entry and high levels of competition.

I think it can depend hugely on the industry. Ie in one with fast moving technological advancement I think it’s easier to get left behind in a small space of time.
I think it’s always good to keep up to date with any industry standards/landmark events etc

I had 4 years off and stepped back into work straight away, I wasn't fussy though and did whatever job I could get. I've got no qualifications in anything and anyone could do my job so I could have just got lucky.

Totally depends on your job and what you want when you go back. I had 5 years out and got the second job I applied for but I spent the last year volunteering part time to update my CV. The longer you have out the more effort you have to put into getting ready to go back.

I think this is an impossible question to answer to be honest. Depends on your job, where you live, what stage in your career you were at when you left, whether you're trying to get back into a popular role or one where there's a shortage of staff, whether you're willing to undertake retraining, go back in at a lower pay grade, travel or move for work, and probably loads of other things I've not thought of. I can think of 2 people I know who have both recently decided to go back to work. Both have had over a decade out of the workplace but one has been applying for senior positions in her previous profession and hasn't even been shortlisted for any. She's declared that it's impossible for her to get work but she has not been prepared to compromise at all. The other took a junior position on not much more than minimum wage bit with the prospect of promotion to something more like her previous job in a few years and she is doing a course to facilitate that.

I had 9 years as a SAHM. I had no problem in getting a job when the time was right for me to go back to work. I went back part time when my youngest started school, then full time when he went to secondary.

30 years off and on.
I kept up to date with my industry, and went self employed at a higher level than I'd left.
Helps that dh works from home and is same industry, so just kept my hand in.
We travelled as a family when he was touring so was involved there too.

Surely it depends on what industry you are in? I had a senior level role before I had my DS, I was a SAHM for 12 years (totally my choice) and I would have found it hard to go back to the same level, simple things like IT had changed so much ....didn't even have email when I stopped work . I have found another job, which I am passionate about, but it pays considerably less than I was earning previously ... it doesn't worry me particularly but for many people such a drop in income would not be sustainable.

Like others said, you'll need more information. The answer's going to be very different for a senior sales director, a computer programmer, a retail assistant or a heart surgeon...

Thanks for the advice. I'm in a slightly technical office role, so I'm guessing the gap will need to be shorter or I will have to make sure that my IT skills are up to date and do some relevant volunteering to fill the gap. I'm already looking at training and if the gap gets too long, I'm going to volunteer. I'm hoping the employment market will get easier as it's tough to find a job at the moment.