Demand for women in white-collar jobs surge 35%, says foundit

There has been a 35% increase in jobs for women candidates in the Indian white-collar economy in February 2023 compared to the same month last year, according to the latest data released by foundit (formerly Monster APAC and Middle East), a leading talent management platform.

Women’s workforce participation has primarily increased due to two factors. First, women who dropped out of work during the pandemic to become fulltime caregivers have now re-joined the workforce, and second, focused efforts by India Inc. to increase female participation in the workforce. These include introducing benefits such as menstrual leaves and childcare, introducing programs to fight bias in the workplace, allowing flexibility at work, and diversity-focused hiring, among others.

The highest demand share of women in the workforce is currently held by the IT-enabled services or business process outsourcing sector at 36%, followed by computers or software industry at 35%, and banking, accounting, and financial services at 22%.

In terms of geographic distribution, the highest percentage of jobs available for women can be found in metropolitan cities such as Delhi NCR at 21%, Mumbai at 15%, and Bengaluru at 10%, followed by cities like Chennai at 9%, and Pune at 7%.

It is also interesting to note that 6% of the total women workforce on the platform are those who have taken a career break and returned to work. Moreover, freelance roles accounted for 4% of the total jobs for women, indicating a rise in gig-based opportunities in the white-collar economy.

“There have been many economic success stories of women in the last 50 years, but one of the biggest has been the stride they have made in the labour market. Female workers have shown themselves to be hard-working, creative, collaborative and highly competitive. Women leaders worldwide have made headlines for how well they managed to stay afloat in times of great crisis. But there is still work to be done and miles to walk,” said Sekhar Garisa, CEO, foundit.

The gender parity was highest in the ITeS or BPO sector that holds the greatest share of available opportunities for women, at 36%. “The expansion of the tech sector in India has been unrivalled, with organisations across the spectrum focusing on customer-centricity and digitisation. The penetration of digital banking services and easy credit availability has also fuelled the growth of the BFSI sector. The proliferation of technology in these sectors has created an urgent need for upskilled talent,” foundit said in a statement.

Across experience levels, women in leadership hold 8% of the total share, indicating a great scope for more growth and inclusivity at workplaces. More and more women today are breaking the glass ceiling, and organisations are actively trying to create an environment conducive to the success of women. Women’s participation remains highest for intermediate-level roles at 24% share for professionals with 3-5 years of experience. This is followed by freshers at 18% share for professionals with 1-3 years of experience.