By all accounts, the modern workplace is undergoing a reckoning. We speak often of inclusive hiring, diversity of thought, and the need for mental health support. But when it comes to career gaps, far too many employers still raise an eyebrow instead of offering a hand.

According to MyPerfectResume’s 2025 Career Gaps Report, 47% of workers surveyed have taken a break from their careers. Let that sink in: nearly half of the workforce has had a pause in employment. These aren’t rare exceptions.

“Today’s job seekers can leverage these experiences to showcase resilience, adaptability, and personal growth,” said Jasmine Escalera, career expert at MyPerfectResume.

They’re the new normal. Yet, 30% of respondents still say employers view these gaps as a major red flag. That’s a damning disconnect – one that exposes just how far we’ve yet to go in creating genuinely empathetic, human-centred hiring practices.

Career breaks aren’t taken lightly

People step away from work because they’ve been laid off, need to care for family, are dealing with burnout or illness, or are navigating major life transitions. In the survey of 1,000 workers:

21% said their break followed a layoff or company restructuring
13% took time out to retrain and change careers
12% cited caregiving duties
12% stepped away due to mental health or burnout
10% took a break for medical reasons.

These aren’t excuses. They’re real-life realities – and they tell a far richer story about a candidate than a neat string of uninterrupted job titles ever could.

But instead of meeting these stories with curiosity or compassion, many employers still cling to outdated assumptions: 38% of respondents said they worry a gap will hurt their future job prospects.

More than 1 in 5 believe that taking medical or personal leave puts them at greater risk of being laid off down the line. This is what allegedly happened to some workers at Big Tech companies during recent rounds of layoffs.

A toxic view of nonlinear career paths

The silent penalty is costing businesses more than they realise. By shutting out candidates with unconventional paths, companies are not only missing out on valuable talent – they’re also reinforcing a toxic ideal of linear, uninterrupted careers that simply no longer reflects the lived experience of the workforce.

Take this for what it is: a wake-up call. Today’s professionals are stepping away from work for a host of valid reasons. And they’re returning with deeper resilience, sharper focus, and broader life experience. Yet the stigma persists.

A full 64% of respondents prefer not to mention a gap in their applications unless they absolutely have to.
Only 20% would proactively explain the break.
Incredibly, 4% said they would go so far as to hide or lie about it.

What does it say about our hiring culture that truth becomes a liability?

Let’s stop pretending that career gaps are career killers. They’re not. They are part and parcel of a dynamic and adaptive workforce – one that is grappling with caregiving, health, learning, and reinvention, often all at once.

Changing notions of career gaps

We already see signs of change. Encouragingly, 44% of respondents say employers are more accepting of career gaps than they were before COVID-19. When job seekers were asked which reasons employers found most justifiable, their responses showed a deepening empathy:

75% said medical issues were legitimate grounds for a career gap
69% said caregiving duties were understandable
65% appreciated educational pursuits as a reason for a career break

But attitudes can’t evolve in isolation. Hiring managers, HR leaders, and executives must lead the way in dismantling the stigma – not quietly, not eventually, but now.

“The stigma surrounding career gaps is gradually fading as more employers recognise the value of diverse life experiences,” Escalera said.

“As employers evolve their perceptions, embracing career gaps as part of a holistic talent strategy will be key to fostering inclusive and dynamic workplaces.”

That’s the standard we should be holding ourselves to. A holistic talent strategy, not a risk-averse checklist. It’s time to stop treating career gaps as a defect and start seeing them as a data point in a much richer, more human career narrative.

A gap on a CV isn’t a pause in potential; it’s proof that life happened and someone came out the other side ready to contribute again.

It’s not the perfect, uninterrupted timeline that should impress employers – it’s the story of someone who weathered a storm and came back stronger.

“This shift reflects a growing understanding that career breaks are often driven by complex, real-world challenges – from caregiving to career transitions,” Escalera said.

If businesses want to flourish in a world of shifting priorities, evolving skills, and rising expectations, they need to walk the talk on empathy. Career gaps aren’t a red flag – they’re a badge of grit.