Women, especially those of childbearing age, usually face a more competitive and a harsher work environment than males, according to a recent report by Zhaopin.

It said that more than 60 percent of working mothers it surveyed — the report gave no indication of respondent numbers — felt that fertility is the main reason for gender discrimination in the job market.

Moreover, they said they feel a sense of shame when asked about marital status or family plans in interviews, or if they ask for leave when their child is unwell.

The report said that 30 percent of those surveyed said they face uncertainties about promotion because of their youth, and 23.2 percent said they had lost promotion opportunities because they were newly married and therefore likely to fall pregnant.

"I quit my job before giving birth to my daughter in November 2019. I spent almost four years at home focusing on raising my child. I started my present job in September after sending my kid to the kindergarten last year," said Liu Chuchu, a 34-year-old customer manager in Beijing.

"It's understandable that employers have concerns about women with children who are looking for jobs, because their focus may be distracted. I have several friends who have transferred to more flexible jobs, such as selling insurance, after having a baby."

She said it took a couple of months to get used to her new company's working speed. "I spent quite a long time not working. As I can work from home, sometimes I couldn't draw a clear line between my work and life scenarios. But now I can manage the schedule much better," she said.

"I restarted my career mainly to get a sense of achievement, not just to make money to raise my child. My parents were worried about my relationship with my husband when I was a full-time mother. I was very lucky not to experience discrimination when I was looking for work, and I was grateful that my husband strongly supported every decision I made about children and work."

Pang, the employment and entrepreneurship researcher, said it's common to see gender preferences in the job market in terms of requirements. For example, men are preferred for work on oilfields.

"Companies are usually concerned about possible lower efficiency or higher labor costs from the job discontinuity of married women and women with children. But it's discriminatory to not hire women because of their marital status or baby plans," she said.

In fact, many cities and districts had taken steps to improve the work environment and the employment of women with children even before Guangdong released its draft policy.

For example, Zhongshan city, also in Guangdong, started setting up flexible positions for mothers in 2021, and encouraged local employers in sectors such as manufacturing, domestic services, retailing and banking to offer "mother jobs" in August last year.

From March last year, Gaoming district in Guangdong's Foshan city organized six rounds of job fairs focused on "mother jobs".

As of March, the district had advertised 1,584 such jobs with 124 companies and government bodies, and helped 675 women with children land jobs near their homes in sectors such as real estate and insurance. Beijing's Shijingshan district also held job fairs in March offering "mother positions".