Indian-Origin Woman Reveals How She Returned To Semiconductor Career After Six-Year Break

An Indian-origin woman living in New Jersey, US, has revealed how she managed to bounce back in her career despite a six-year break and shared the one tip that made the transition back easier. Ramya Ramesh, 39, quit her job at GlobalFoundries, where she worked as a tech lead in 2018, after her husband secured a work assignment in Canada. The couple chose to keep their family together rather than have Ramesh stay behind alone with their four-year-old daughter.

In a conversation with Business Insider, Ramya revealed that the assignment was expected to last a year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and a second pregnancy meant the family could not return to America until 2023. 

While in Montreal, Canada, Ramesh said she struggled to pursue her semiconductor career, as job listings required French proficiency. Ramesh said she spent over a year taking French classes, but the pandemic and her pregnancy pushed job hunting down her priority list. She stayed home with her children instead, taking her son to the library, park, and playdates after the family returned to the US.

With the career gap widening, Ramesh explored other paths, including event management and substitute teaching, as she was fearful that her previous industry may have changed.

"When I looked for work in the US again six years after leaving, I ruled out the semiconductor industry because I was fearful the environment had changed too much," said Ramesh.

While Ramesh was worried that the industry had moved beyond her, former colleagues at GlobalFoundries approached her in August 2024, informing her that her old department was hiring. Encouraged by the fact that people there still remembered her, Ramesh applied and rejoined the company in October 2024.

Ramesh said her niche technical expertise worked in her favour during interviews, making her more of a "plug-and-play" hire than a completely new recruit.

"My prior experience seemed to give me an advantage, too, as my area of expertise is very niche. While it takes time to train a new recruit, it's more like a plug-and-play for someone who's done this before," she said.

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Re-Entry Programme

Ramesh added that the biggest help came after she started, through the company's re-entry programme. The new initiative paired Ramesh with mentors she had not asked for, gave her basic training, and included weekly check-ins for two months. When she struggled with unfamiliar workplace abbreviations, her mentor connected her with another returnee who shared a list of the abbreviations they had made.

Ramesh said the support made returning to work after a long gap feel possible and credited her time abroad with making her more proactive about seeking help from colleagues when faced with problems at work.

She said she has no regrets about the break and would recommend it to others who can afford one, noting that more companies now run programmes to help returners re-enter the workforce.