The number of white collar jobs for women in India increased by 56% year-on-year in February 2024, according to talent platform foundit.
The month also saw a jump in the number of women who opt for freelance jobs—it increased to 8% in February 2024 from 4% in the year-ago month, said a report released on Monday by foundit, which was earlier known as Monster APAC & ME.
“This exponential increase can be attributed to the convenience that the Gig or the freelancing industry offers to participants,” the company said in a press release. “Work-life balance is one of the key challenges in career growth for women, and with freelancing, most women are able to leverage their potential fully.”
“At foundit, women currently constitute 35% of the workforce, and we hope to increase this number in the coming years,” said Sekhar Garisa, CEO of foundit. “Female leaders often demonstrate transformational leadership qualities, and having more women in a team promotes diversity and inclusion in the workplace.”
According to the report, the IT/computers–software sector led the list in offering opportunities to women, who accounted for 36% of the sector’s workforce in February this year.
The recruitment/staffing/RPO sector had the second highest share of women in the workforce at 24%, followed by the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector at 23%.
“Engineering and production has traditionally been less welcoming to women due to its demanding working culture and the use of heavy machinery. However, the sector has shown six-fold growth over the past year, largely driven by the EV (electric vehicle) and automobile industry growth in India,” the company said in the press release.
Among the job roles that indicated positive hiring sentiment towards women were IT professionals (25%), human resources (18%), sales & business development (12%), and marketing & communications (10%).
“While people-centric jobs are considered to be more accepting of women, the customer service/call centre/BPO roles have seen a 10% decline in hiring. This decline suggests that companies in this sector are re-evaluating their operational strategies,” said foundit.
Bengaluru and Hyderabad were the leaders in hiring women over the past year, according to foundit, while Delhi topped the chart in female participation in the workforce.
The report suggests that there has been an increase in leadership opportunities for women, with 9% of job postings specifically targeted towards leadership positions in February 2024.
The month also saw an increase in the share of women returnees to 7% from 6% in February 2023.
