With two years into the pandemic, diversity hiring has increased across industries and at all levels of the corporate space. This is partially true because of the path that COVID-19 has traced for a gig economy. The mere introduction of technology has helped women in getting employed in the latter while the former requires upskilling and re-skilling.
With a fast-changing work environment due to the advent of technology, the opportunities to work will expand enormously. Since, the companies are willing to adopt a hybrid model of working, as it generates several benefits for them, the job losses that took place for women could only be temporary. The freedom to work remotely can lead to a gradual return of the female workforce. In job roles where interactions are possible through phone calls and various apps (for instance: sales) the acceptance of virtual workspace by the companies can make these job positions accessible for women.
The impact of diversity hiring is clearly visible in some industries while in others, it is yet to be explored. Companies in the IT sector are searching to have talented candidates on board and are also emphasizing on immediate joining of the selected candidates. Today, a large number of women are selected in this sector, who are also being given salary hikes. Second career women are preferred because the salary hikes they require have a base salary of years or months ago which become more affordable for a company.
Avtar, which is a leading firm in diversity and the one which pioneered second career hiring for women, remarked that the year 2022 has been different. Even though the required momentum is yet to be reached, the focus of industries towards diversity and inclusion has peaked this year.
For married women in India, working from home has been a blessing in disguise. There is an opportunity at their doorstep as they can now re-enter the workforce they had left because of their inability to work because of household responsibilities and other related reasons. Multinationals as well as start-ups are receiving a greater number of applications from women and are keen on onboarding them. These corporations have also made changes in the maternity leave timings for the women, increasing it by a significant percentage, thereby incentivizing females. SMEs are slowly catching up with these standards.
As for the gig economy, the model being based on freelance and flexible jobs largely contributes to expanding women’s employment opportunities. It usually involves contacting or connecting with the customers or clients over a digital platform that can be accessed anywhere the employee wants to work from. The employers can hence, absorb more women participants in their workforce, thereby, increasing their representation.
The disparity in hiring also depends on the level of job an employee is in. Medium skill jobs which require a blend of mental and physical routine work are subject to greater gender biases and gender-specific hiring. However, high and low-skill jobs are gender neutral. Here, the intent of the employer is to find adequately skilled people to fill in the job position rather than discriminate on the grounds of gender.
Job postings for women increased by nearly 300% in 2021 and this number is expected to increase further in 2022. The need for diversity is important as it fosters innovation with new perspectives and ideas on the plate. It is important that firms understand that hiring women should not be to only fill mandatory roles but to give way to equality, so that people are not left behind and their growth prospects are not diminished. If it remains a compliance-bound strategy, the intent behind it will not develop, and even when hired, the women candidates will not be able to advance beyond the glass ceiling.
Written by- Adrija Poddar
Edited by- Aishani Mishra