Female hiring trends: About 36 per cent of the workforce in the software sector is comprised of women, as per a recent study by job platform foundit.

In its data related to female participation in white-collar economy roles, the company also revealed a 56 per cent jump in roles for women candidates in February 2024 as against the same period last year.

Industries

Women are also in high numbers as part of roles in recruitment, staffing or RPO sectors at 24 per cent, followed by 23 per cent of female workforce presence in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) segments.

The recruitment, staffing and RPO sector has seen a sharp rise in female hiring over the past two years, going up from 5 per cent in 2022 to 20 per cent in 2023, before being at the present 24 per cent for the current year.

Engineering and production,  known for being less welcoming to women traditionally due to a demanding work culture, has also seen a sharp jump in recruitment from 1 per cent in 2022 and 2023 to 6 per cent in 2024.

Positive hiring sentiment towards women workers is also visible in the IT industry at 25 per cent, followed by human resources at 18 per cent, sales and business development at 12 per cent and marketing and communication roles at 10 per cent.

A decline in customer service and call centre or BPO jobs from 25 per cent last year to 15 per cent in 2024, is attributed to companies in this sector re-evaluating their operational strategies.   

Cities

Delhi leads the pack of cities in terms of female participation in the workforce at 21 per cent, followed by Bengaluru at 17 per cent. 

The Karnataka capital, however, saw a sharp dip in female workforce presence in 2023 at 10 per cent, after having 21 per cent of its workforce as women in 2022.

Mumbai has seen a steady number in terms of female hiring, going from 7 per cent in 2022 to remaining at 15 per cent in 2023 and 2024.

Rise in female leaders

About 9 per cent of job postings in leadership roles in 2024 are specifically targeted for female members of the workforce, as per the study. 

The share of women returnees has also gone up from 6 per cent in February 2023 to 7 per cent in the same period this year.

Most of the roles in leadership roles are welcoming to women who are returning to work, as per the study.

Freelancing is emerging as a viable option for female workers, with 8 per cent of women going for such roles in February 2024 in contrast to 4 per cent in the same period last year. 

The reasons for this are attributed to more work-life balance.

Foundit was earlier known as Monster (APAC and ME), and has 9 crore registered users across 18 countries.