Why there is a 'she-cession' in the Indian workforce

Contrary to the perceived image of work-from-home (WFH) being a blessing in disguise for working women of the white-collar workforce because of its flexibility, it was a nightmarish balancing act, especially for working mothers. 

"Women are more burnt out than men because their challenges are higher. A lot of companies are offering mental health, self-care and mindfulness benefits for women to deal with that," says Nirmala Menon, founder and CEO of diversity firm Interweave Consulting. 

Of course, the challenges for women are higher. Working mothers in India took on an additional 360 hours of childcare per woman during the pandemic. That's 10 times more than the average man's 33 additional hours, according to a study by the Center for Global Development. Add to that increased workload, drop in job satisfaction, decline in mental well-being and additional domestic responsibilities during the pandemic, as found by consulting firm Deloitte’s global study of 'Women @ Work' released in May 2021. It's no wonder that many women may just want to hand in their resignation. 

As many as 63 per cent of the working Indian women surveyed in the Deloitte study plan to leave their current employer in less than two years, while 26 per cent said they want to quit working altogether. 

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"Companies are dealing with attrition in this gender group and they are losing the diversity edge they had created," says recruitment firm Randstad India’s Chief People Officer Anjali Raghuvanshi. The figure is definitely less for men for reasons like these, she adds. 

"Men may leave for other opportunities but women are leaving for psychological well-being and because of additional pressure," says Jobs4Her founder and CEO Neha Bagaria. "The women who can afford to are saying, "We’ll come back when we can." Those who can’t are just marching on, while looking for a higher paying and better job." 

It also helps that there is a mad rush for technology talent in several industries, she says. 

However, this is bad news for a country with less than one-third participation of women in the labour force, and for firms which have set gender diversity goals for themselves. 

As for the working women scouting for other opportunities, experts say it is still the mid-level employees, usually working mothers, who prefer WFH the most. However, they want an improved version of the one they stumbled into as a stop-gap during the pandemic. 

BT Magazine's latest issue looks at what companies need to do to provide flexibility to the burnt out working mothers. Experience the BT Immersive story here: Breaking Point