India’s Vanishing Female Workforce and What We Can Do to Bridge the Gender Gap
-By Arun Parameswaran, Vice President and Managing Director, VMware India.
Arun is a dynamic business leader who is deeply committed to promoting Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) in the technology sector and at VMware, India. He is a vocal advocate of women in technology and the VMInclusion Taara initiative.
This post first appeared on Arun’s LinkedIn page on the occasion of International Women’s Day
India is suffering from a strange case of a rapidly disappearing female workforce. The facts speak for themselves — there are only 470 million Indian women in the active workforce, female participation in the workforce has dropped from 35 percent in 2005 to 26 percent in 2018. The World Bank ranks India 120 among 131 countries in female labor force participation rates. Added to this is the challenge of women dropping out of the workforce at an alarming rate. A report by the Centre for Talent Innovation indicates that 36 percent of Indian women choose to take a break from work at some point. While 91 percent of them want to restart their careers, around 40–45 percent are unable to find suitable opportunities. Even in the technology sector, approximate 45 percent of women quit their jobs after five to eight years and never return.
Despite our best efforts to promote diversity in the industry, for the most part, Indian women are underrepresented, forced into an unequal playing field, and not adequately supported in the workplace. If this is not addressed immediately and on a war footing, the widening gender gap will ultimately slow down our economic growth. At VMware, we take diversity and inclusivity seriously and I know we have successfully nurtured a wonderful thriving work culture that is supportive and rooted in equality. It is not very difficult to drive a positive transformation in the way we engage with women at work. From my own experience I recommend the following:
Focus on inclusivity and not just diversity — Begin by abandoning the tick mark approach to diversity. It is not as important to hire a fixed number of diversity quota candidates as it is to nurture a culture of inclusivity. Only then will you retain the women you hire and help them grow. Understand that women have some unique challenges and a multitude of responsibilities and a little flexibility can go a long way to help them. Implement supportive policies that put their need to balance first. Create a safe supportive and equitable environment and watch your women teammates thrive.
Bring back the ones you lost — Despite your best efforts, there will be women who will leave the workforce. The balancing act can be exhausting and the need to prioritize other aspects of their lives strong. Understand and address what is holding women back from re-starting their careers. For example, we realized that a lot of women techies on a break felt that the rapid pace of technology evolution had left their skills outdated. We launched VMinclusion Taara, a unique returnee program aimed at upskilling and retraining women engineers in the latest digital transformation technologies. It’s just been a couple of months since it went live and the response to it is phenomenal. Most women want to return to work and just want the right opportunity. Give them the opportunity to come back and see your business and the industry benefit from the experience and commitment they bring to the table.
Be an ally — The women’s rights movement cannot succeed without men joining the conversation. Very often in our rush to help women at work, we forget that they can’t succeed without the support of the men in their lives. For example, extended paternity leaves and flexible working policies can help men share parenting responsibilities and help women get back to work. A voice of support in the face of discrimination can be just the encouragement a woman needs to fight back and demand better treatment. Taking equal responsibility for household chores can be an invaluable asset for women trying to balance it all. As the detergent commercial goes -share the load.
This International Women’s Day, I wish for a world without gender discrimination. We have created the momentum required to get there, and I am sure, it will pick up the pace in the years to come. Happy Women’s Day to all my friends, family, colleagues, and to every woman in the world. I hope that together we are able to create a world where each of you is valued, treated equally and with the respect you deserve.
