As Indian IT (Information Technology) services firms registered a decline in headcount in FY24, the women employees count dipped sharper than men, thus impacting diversity ratio.
Top tier IT companies saw women headcount dip in FY24 for the first time in at least seven years after improving women participation and diversity quotient during the boom period of FY21 to FY23. In FY24, the percentage of women employees at a few of the top IT firms also took a marginal hit.
FY24 saw a net exit of 24,237 women cumulatively across Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, and Wipro, as per data from company reports. In comparison, the three giants recorded net additions of 94,827 women between FY21 to FY23. Return to office mandates by IT firms and overall drop in fresher hiring impacted women counts at these firms adversely, analysts and HR professionals said.
At TCS, the number of women employees fell from 2.19 lakh as of March 2023 to 2.14 lakh in March 2024, representing a 2.4 per cent decline. In comparison, male employees’ count declined 1.6 per cent. Diversity ratio at TCS declined from 35.8 per cent to 35.6 per cent.
Similarly, Infosys saw an 8 per cent decline in women staff in FY24, while the rate of decline in male employees was 7.3 per cent. Diversity ratio dipped from 39.4 per cent to 39.3 per cent. However, at Wipro, the count of male employees fell sharper relative to women with diversity ratios remaining flat. Wipro saw a net reduction of 8,126 women in FY24. HCL Tech added around 289 women on a net basis in FY24, but the diversity ratio still slipped from 29.2 to 29.1 per cent.
Government data on the IT and IT-enabled services sector also supports this trend. IT Ministry data shows that percentage of women employed in IT and ITeS sector remains at 36 per cent in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Industry trackers note that though this is an impact of a dip in total headcount led by demand slowdown, more women have exited the IT services sector relative to men amid this turmoil.
GCC catching up
Kapil Joshi, deputy CEO of Quess IT Staffing, said, “Traditionally, the diversity quotient is highest in entry-level talent and tapers down at higher levels. Campus hiring took a hit this year and that also contributed to a dip in women’s presence.” He noted that attrition tends to be higher among women relative to men due to marriage, motherhood etc and the return to office mandates in the recent fiscal has also played a part in the decline of women employees.
“GCCs are emerging as an attractive option for women talent. We received 60 per cent more applications from women than men for GCC roles this year,” Munira Loliwala, VP of Strategy and Growth of HR services firm TeamLease Digital, said. The GCC culture is seen to be more relaxed, roles come with better pay, and the hybrid work model also provides flexibility to women, she added.
Diversity advocates note that the 32-35 per cent mark has become the thumb-rule diversity level at IT services firms and focused efforts are needed to take women participation higher. Global IT services companies fare better in diversity. Accenture has 48 per cent women employees and Genpact 42 per cent as per recent filings.
(With inputs from Jameela Suha, intern at businessline)