The hiring of women in mid-management to senior level jumped to 43 per cent in 2020 from 18 per cent in 2019, as per a report by job platform JobsForHer.
The report titled 'DivHERsity Benchmarking Report 2020-21' analyses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's career advancements across the country and across various levels of corporate India. It includes data collected from over 300 companies from a wide variety of industries and sectors.
About 41 per cent of startups surveyed in the report said they achieved their goal of gender diversity hiring in 2020, establishing that several companies are adopting initiatives that help eliminate gender biases to create a more diverse workplace, the job platform said.
As remote and work-from-home jobs saw a rise amidst the pandemic, 40 per cent of companies rolled out special and customised work-from-home roles post COVID-19, said the report.
Also read: Scrap plan to set up payment network: SBI union, others write to RBI
The companies were also asked about maternity leave offered by them, and the report said only 45 per cent of all companies, including large enterprises, startups and SMEs, are giving six months of maternity leave.
In 2017, India had passed the Maternity Amendment Bill that increased the right to paid maternity leave for working women from 12 weeks to 26 weeks - the third highest in the world.
Even as companies introduced new policies to build a human-centric employee experience during the pandemic, only 13 per cent of companies offered additional paid leave for parents during the pandemic.
"Organisations are finally coming to understand the significance of diversity in their workforce, and have now started implementing the same. It is heartening to see several organisations taking a step in the right direction to make the workplace more women-friendly," JobsForHer founder and CEO Neha Bagaria said.
"We are hopeful that this trend will enable and encourage more women returnees, women in tech and women in leadership roles to enter the workforce and climb the professional ladder, while ensuring gender parity across all levels," she added.
Also read: Fix glitches in new income tax e-filing portal: Sitharaman to Infosys, Nilekani