HABILIDADES ADQUIRIDAS NO EXERCÍCIO DA MATERNIDADE QUE CONTRIBUEM NO MERCADO DE TRABALHO

The main objective of this article is to understand, from the perspective of women who are mothers, how motherhood can contribute to the improvement of soft skills and how these skills can foster professional development. The research was exploratory, netnographic, and used non-probabilistic and stratified sampling. It included a sample of 140 women who experienced motherhood and returned to the workforce in the state of São Paulo. The results showed that women stand out for their differences in behavioral skills, such as communication and flexibility. And although motherhood is marked by structural and emotional challenges, it also fosters behavioral skills relevant to the workplace. Skills such as resilience, flexibility, creativity, time management, proactivity, and interpersonal relationships were recognized by the participants themselves as having been enhanced during motherhood, reinforcing the potential of this period as a source of soft skills valued in diverse work environments. The conclusion is that motherhood should not be understood as a limiting factor in women's professional careers, but rather as a process capable of strengthening socio-emotional skills that contribute to individual, organizational, and social development.