Women’s Representation at India Inc. Remains Stable at 37%: 2024 Avtar & Seramount BCWI – MICI Study

2024-09-29 06:08:12 Business

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Avtar, India’s pioneer and leading workplace culture consulting company, today announced findings from the 9th edition of ‘Best companies for women in India (BCWI)’, listing. The 2024 Avtar & Seramount findings mark an evolution in the workplace culture in India, as the initiative nears the close of a decade. Data emerging from the survey establishes that average women representation across industries today is at 36.6% and close to 40% at entry level. Sectors like professional services are close to gender balance with 46% women while manufacturing reported a gender ratio of 20%, an indication of intensifying efforts.

The 2024 annual listing deep-dives and provides industry-wise listing for the first time establishing that the IT industry as the single largest employer of women with 24% companies in the listing, Banking & Financial Services Industry (BFSI) follows with a distant 11% and close to 20 other sectors ranging across manufacturing, pharma, healthcare, media & entertainment, hospitality, etc. trail with fewer companies featuring on the list. This year’s listing also includes a new category of listing- “Best Companies for Women in India- Emerging Icon”, organizations with 100-500 employees in their Indian operations, where 33% of the workforce are women and an encouraging 26% is the gender ratio at the leadership level.

Avtar also released the sixth edition of its annual ‘Most Inclusive Companies Index’ (MICI), wherein interestingly, from 58% companies focusing on People with Disabilities (PwDs) in 2019, the number has risen significantly to 98% of companies focusing on building inclusive work environments for PwDs. The index further broadens the understanding of inclusivity in India by evaluating diverse dimensions including gender, disability, age and culture.

Dr. Saundarya Rajesh - Founder, President, Avtar, celebrating the progress expressed, "We are at a unique, paradox and juncture in India today with respect to women's participation in the workforce; we have made significant progress in many areas such as the sheer volume of the women workforce, the facilities and flexibilities provided and the benefits to name a few but yet far behind in leveraging the opportunity - of enabling women in leadership positions, of ensuring rise in women participation and distribution across sectors and needless to emphasise women's safety and well-being at the workplace so that they are encouraged to stay and grow. We are committed to keep nudging and raising the bar at Avtar and this year's report takes one more step in that direction - of recognising emerging companies on their initiatives towards increasing and enabling women in the workforce and of deep-diving into the data industry-wise so that we have an incisive reflection of the gaps and areas that we need to work on.”

She further added, “It is remarkable to witness how organizations across geographies are increasingly committed to creating work environments where diversity is empowered to thrive. The BCWI study and the MICI continue to be a beacon of progress and as we move forward, we remain committed to enabling workplaces where equality is not just a goal, but a reality. The DEI rigour and focus of the participating companies prove that they are keen on turning around challenges into opportunities. We are thrilled to congratulate the companies recognised in the listing this year, for their unwavering commitment to DEI in their actions and spirit.”

“Most Inclusive Companies Index helps companies in India focus their efforts to understand gaps and provide specific strategies, programs, tools, and resources to help raise the standard on DEI strategies for under-represented talent including gender, LGBTQ+, PWD, and different generations.” said Subha Barry, President of Seramount. “We celebrate the leadership, employees, and initiatives that foster an inclusive environment where women and all talent can thrive.” she further added.

This year BWCI received 361 applications from organizations across various industries, regions and sectors in India, out of which companies from industries as diverse as Automotive, BFSI, Chemical, Conglomerate, Consumer Products, E-Commerce, Global Capabilities Center, Hospitality, Health Care, IT, ITES, Logistics and Management Consulting, Manufacturing, Media, Pharmaceutical, Professional Services, Real Estate, Retail and Apparel, and Science & Engineering, Telecommunication and Utilities, made it to the Best Companies List. The study accepted applications from companies between February 2024, and July 2024. The Top Companies and Best Companies for Women in India were chosen based on their efforts towards gender inclusion, as represented in their applications. The Emerging Icons had 52 companies applying to participate, of which the winning list features 10 companies.
The companies that feature in MICI together employ 7427 people with disabilities. The champions of inclusion together employ 4652 people with disabilities, the exemplars have over 2275 PwD employees working for them.

2024 Avtar & Seramount Top Companies for Women in India (listed A-Z, alphabetically)
• Accenture Solutions Private Limited
• AXA XL India Business Services Pvt. Ltd.
• Barclays in India
• Cairn Oil and Gas, Vedanta Limited