One in three companies in India prefer hiring men: WEF Study

According to recently released World Economic Forum (WEF) “Future of Work in India” report, companies in India experiencing highest growth prefer hiring men. The study shows that technology-led job growth benefits men more than women and has found that one in three companies preferred hiring men, only one in 10 companies wanted to hire more women.

WEF Future of Work in India report

It was prepared by WEF and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) after surveying 770 companies, from micro-sized firms to those employing more than 25,000 workers, across four industries – textiles, logistics and transportation, banking and financial services and retail to understand how technology impacts workforce. It also took into consideration worldwide concern that technology adoption may displace human workers, leading to jobless growth.

Key Highlights of report

Jobs in India are experiencing highest growth and companies are hiring women at only 26%. Women in India are entering workforce at slower rate than current female workforce participation. India’s female workforce participation is mere 27% and stands 23 percentage points lower than global average.
Currently, a third of companies had no female employees, 71% have fewer than 10% female workers, and only 2.4% have half or more females. The retail sector had most companies with no female employees at 45%, followed by transport and logistics at 36%. Companies in both sectors also stated they prefer hiring men most, at 43 and 48% respectively.
There is overall technology-led job growth, but men are disproportionately reaping benefits as compared to women. Only 11 of the surveyed companies were eager to hire more women and 36% of companies reported a preference for men.
The workforce is trending toward independent, freelance and informal labour that again also give men advantage. 75% of freelancers are men, and men with ten to 20 years experience are paid 30% more than their female counterparts.
It was found that participation of women in freelance work declines with more career experience. The freelance work drops from 37% for women with up to five years experience to 10% for women with more than 10 years experience.
Of the companies surveyed, it was found that 22% were to replace permanent workers with contract workers in the next five years. It was found that less than quarter of companies provide maternity leave for permanent employees and 10% for contract workers.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2018