Indian Women are Quitting Their Jobs. Here is What You Can Do about it Mckinsey's recent report echoed Ivanka's opinion as the research firm predicated if women's participation in the Indian economy goes up, the country GDP is likely to go up by 60 per cent or 2.9 trillion by 2025
By Vanita D'souza •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
The last time when Ivanka Trump was in India to inaugurate the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, she said that if India bridges the gender gap in the labour force segment even by half, the economy has a potential to grow by USD 150 billion.
Even Mckinsey's recent report echoed Ivanka's opinion as the research firm predicated if women's participation in the Indian economy goes up, the country GDP is likely to go up by 60 per cent or 2.9 trillion by 2025.
Having said this, India is nowhere close to bridging the gender gap in the workforce. According to the World Bank, 20 million women quit their jobs between 2004-05 to 2011-12, while in 2013, the country registered the lowest female labour force participation (LFLP) in South Asia.
More recently, the World Economic Forum ranked India 108 out of 144 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index. These numbers are not very impressive as against the performance of our neighbours (China and Bangladesh).
To reverse this trend, one needs to first understand why Indian women are moving away from the workforce.
Neha Bagaria, Founder and CEO, JobsForHer thinks there are mainly four reasons why women resign for their jobs.
"The first reason is marriage. Then mobility wherein her husband's career is moving from city to city or country to country, one becomes a trailing spouse and it is difficult to work then. Third and largest bucket is motherhood where the woman doesn't feel she would able to prioritise work over her family and fourth reason which is prevalent especially in India is medical care to the elderly. So if there is a sick parent or in law, it is usually the woman who will take a step back and take care of the sick in the house," she explains.
The shepreneur feels there is a lot that companies aiming at diversity in their workforce can do. But more importantly, small and medium enterprises including startups can absorb these women successfully.
Most of these smaller firms are constantly scouting for good talent, and she believes that they can look at this pool of women as high experience and mature resource.
Furthermore, Bagaria also thinks by adopting part-time and work from home culture, these companies will not just exploit the womanpower but also save infrastructural cost.
