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The purpose of this exploratory study was to explore the challenges faced by working mothers in the education sector and the perceived policies and strategies to retain them in their current jobs. This basic qualitative study used in-depth semi-structured interviews to collect information from five working mothers with at least one child.  Thematic analysis was done to analyse the data manually. The key challenges highlighted include work-life conflict, stereotyping, exhaustion, changing work schedule and career growth opportunities.  The working mothers also stated that the key perceived policies and strategies to retain them include child-care support, working from home and flexible work arrangements. Generally, they stated that motherhood was their key priority, and they prioritised family overwork. The study provided an understanding to organisations on the challenges faced by working mothers and what policies organisations should focus on to retain them. This study was the first of its kind, and it provided in-depth experience and views of working mothers in the education sector. This paper makes contributions to work-life integration and career theory.

There is much support for hiring ex-offenders, but employers are unwilling to hire ex-offenders due to several reasons. In Malaysia, there is a paucity of research exploring employers' perceptions toward hiring ex-offenders. This qualitative study aimed to collect in-depth data from employers on their perception of hiring ex-offenders in Malaysia. In addition, the employers also stated their views on how support can be provided to the ex-offenders. This study was based on interpretivism philosophy, and an inductive approach was considered more appropriate. In this qualitative study, data in words and voice was collected from eight employers by using semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis was carried out to identify the themes that emerged from the collected data. The first question explored employers' perception of hiring ex-offenders, and the themes that emerged encompass rationale, perceived risk, the severity of crime, skills and knowledge and personal characteristics. The themes showed that hiring decisions are conditional. On the second question concerning the support, the three themes that emerged include fair treatment, mental support, and financial support. The study results provide an understanding to employers and HR managers on the perceptions of hiring ex-offenders into the workplace and providing support.

BACKGROUND: This study was done after the COVID-19 pandemic that brough a lot of disruptions and changes in behaviors of employees. This study focused on behaviors of Z employees in the new normal environment after the COVID-19 pandemic. Generation Z presently form the biggest age group in Malaysia, accounting for 29% of the total population. They have their own way of behavior and working patterns that is different from previous generations. Despite the increasing number of Gen Z employees, there is a dearth of studies that examined the effect of workforce diversity and job meaningfulness on employee engagement and OCB after the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to find out the association between workforce diversity and job meaningfulness to employee engagement and Organization Citizenship Behavior (OCB) among Gen Z employees in Malaysia after the COVID-19 pandemic. This research also investigated the relationship between employee engagement and OCB. METHODS: This was a quantitative study, and a survey strategy was used to collect data from 160 respondents. SPSS and Smart-PLS were used to generate descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: The results revealed that workforce diversity was the strongest predictor of employee engagement among Gen Z employees after the pandemic. Workforce diversity also had a significant impact on OCB. Comparatively, job meaningfulness had a significant impact only on employee engagement but there was also a significant impact of employee engagement on OCB CONCLUSIONS: The study that was done after the pandemic is one of the first to examine the relationship between workforce diversity, job meaningfulness, employee engagement, and OCB and has extended the current literature through the focus on Generation Z employees. The results suggest that workforce diversity and job meaningfulness to be adopted by organizations to upgrade engagement of Gen Z employees after the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in employee engagement post-COVID, will lead to lower employee turnover, improved productivity and motivation.

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