Oxfordshire's Orano ties up with STEM Returners to help people return to work

Oxfordshire-based Orano, the nuclear industry focused group, is teaming up with UK organisation STEM Returners to help STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professionals get back into work after a break.

STEM Returners will source candidates and provide additional support including advice, career coaching, and mentoring. Applicants will undertake a fully paid 12-week 'returnship'.

Orano will offer a STEM Returners programme at its sites in Abingdon, Warrington and Whitehaven and opportunities will include engineering management and mechanical engineering.

John Storer, the managing director of Orano Limited, said: "Orano continuously looks for new talent, and so we are delighted to partner with STEM Returners to ensure that our door is open to those looking to get back into nuclear after a career break.

"We strive to create an environment where everyone can flourish and feel included, and we see this partnership as one of the key ways we can do that. We are looking forward to the next steps and meeting those who are interested in our opportunities."

Natalie Desty, director of STEM Returners, added: "People wanting to return to work after a career break face an uphill battle, especially when they want to return to STEM industries.

“We are very proud to be entering this new partnership with Orano, to return highly skilled people back into the industry they love. Only by partnering with industry leaders like Orano will we make vital changes in STEM recruitment practices, to help those who are finding it challenging to return to the sector and improve diversity and inclusion."

Annual research from STEM Returners shows that 66 percent of STEM professionals on a career break say they are finding the process of attempting to return to work either difficult or very difficult and that nearly half (46%) of participants said they felt bias because of a lack of recent experience.

The 2023 STEM Returners Index x will be open until 30 June and is available HERE.

The index is open to all STEM professions who have had a gap in their career or who are attempting to return to work or who have recently returned to work and will enable the group to further understand the barriers people face, track the progress UK STEM industries are making, and shine a light on the change needed to create fair opportunities for all.

Orano offers products and services with high added-value across the nuclear fuel cycle, from raw materials to waste treatment. Its activities, from mining to dismantling, conversion, enrichment, recycling, logistics and engineering, contribute to tomorrow’s low carbon world.