Women leaving IT sector down by nearly half due to remote working: Study

The number of women employees leaving the IT sector has come down by nearly half in 2021 compared to the previous year as more firms moved to the remote work model in the wake of the pandemic, giving them flexibility, according to a study.

The data was shared by Avtar, an organisation that works on diversity and inclusion, based on research done with US-based professional services firm Seramount, and was exclusively shared with Moneycontrol. The study looked at the overall attrition of women in the IT/ITeS sector.

At the non-managerial level, the attrition had declined about 40 percent, and as the level went up, the attrition dropped, falling by 20 percent on average at the managerial and corporate executive level.

This is important given that the sector is one of the largest employers of women in the country. Of the 5 million people it employs, more than a quarter are women, and diversity has been one of the key focus areas for the companies in the space.

The pandemic, which normalised remote working and flexible work hours, is now opening up opportunities for women despite the initial concerns that more women are leaving as they struggle to balance office work and work at home.

A not so good start

In August 2020, mid-tier IT firm Hexaware Technologies did a survey to understand the impact of working from home on women. The survey found that remote working had a negative impact on the women in the workforce, who were more stressed due to pressures on both work and home fronts. Hexaware CEO R Srikrishna had then said in an interaction with Moneycontrol that there is a twofold to threefold increase in the workload of women employees.

A March 2021 report revealed that four out of 10 working women in India faced work-related stress due to remote working as they juggled between their personal and professional roles.

Some executives and women employees had then said that the pressure from both fronts could be a breaking point for women, which instead of increasing women's participation might do the opposite.

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At the same time, Rituparna Chakraborty, executive vice-president, Teamlease Services, a staffing firm, said that the shift in work culture induced by COVID-19 had also created opportunities for many women to enter the workforce, offering them the flexibility to work from anywhere.

“One segment of women who have left their careers post maternity are also seen returning to work as more employers offer workplace flexibility. We see a jump in women hiring and are almost at par with pre-pandemic levels,” she added.

This also meant lower attrition rates, and increased participation of women in the workforce.

Lower attrition, more women

According to the 2021 Avtar & Seramount Best Companies for Women in India report, women’s participation in the workforce almost 10 percent between 2016 (25 percent) and 2021 (34.5 percent). Between 2020 and 2021, the increase in total women workforce in 4.34 percent. In the IT/ITeS sector, representation of women increased from 31 percent in 2020 to 32.3 percent in 2021. There has also been a jump in women at managerial levels from 19 percent in 2020 to 21 percent in 2021.

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Saundarya Rajesh, founder-president, Avtar Group, said, “We expect that the number of organisations that offer formalised remote working will increase, adding more remote jobs for women. Around 12 lakh urban women are expected to benefit out of this new model of working.”

Though the pandemic and the great resignation has disproportionately affected women’s workforce participation, there is a growing demand for diverse talent in India Inc. “Remote working has gained an unprecedented momentum with companies no longer restricting themselves to large metros and tier 1 cities. One of the major trends that we are witnessing is that companies are looking to hire from towns and cities such as Gulbarga, Hisar, Vijayawada,” she added.

In Wipro, women now form a little over 36 percent of its workforce.

What are companies doing?

Chakraborty said, “For decades, organisations have been struggling to tackle issues of gender diversity and the inclusion of women in the workplace. There are a lot of initiatives and options that are driving this change, slowly and surely. One of them is the diversity, equity and inclusion policy.”

Take Wipro. According to Sunita Cherian, chief culture officer and senior vice-president, HR, gender diversity in leadership roles has almost doubled in the last 18 months, and women now form a little over 36 percent of its workforce.

“This (diversity) is a very important charter for us and we believe in enabling an ecosystem for women’s career growth and ensuring gender equity in the company. The gender diversity among campus hires has been increasing consistently every year. We plan to make around 30,000 offers at entry level this year, 50 percent of which will be women,” said Cherian.

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In addition, the company has offered flexible working options, which give employees control over how they plan their day, which has also helped. An internal survey by the company revealed that this has helped 77 percent of women employees.

Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and HCL Tech did not respond to Moneycontrol’s query on whether working from home has helped get more women back into the workforce, and the steps they are taking to address the issue.

However, with companies looking to get employees back to work, it is uncertain if this can continue.

Will returning to office impact this?

According to experts, despite the return-to-office initiatives, acceptance of remote work culture and the hybrid workplace model will continue to help more women.

Steps taken by IT companies are helping to get more women to the workforce.

But now with schools and other care-giving options opening up, and companies steadily embracing inclusivity to not just include second career women but also homemakers who are on their first jobs, it gives a lot of reason to be optimistic, Rajesh said.

Chakraborty said that getting back to office is a welcome move for women employees as it brings back the differentiating lines of work and home chores/responsibilities.

“They (women) have been looking to break free from the routine of working from home and returning to office and, as mentioned, a hybrid work model is the way forward for a win-win scenario. Companies placing emphasis on mental health in their return-to-office initiatives and cultivating an inclusive and flexible workplace will have a positive influence on the overall growth story,” Chakraborty added.