Top women leaders from the country on Wednesday addressed gender gap in the workplace and ways to fix the "leaky pipeline" in India, where almost 46 per cent of women drop out of the workforce annually
So, how do we bridge the gap at workplace? The main thing is education, said Zia Mody, founder and managing partner of AZB & Partners. “If we need to change our leaky pipeline, it goes beyond Tier-1 cities," she added stressing on the need to take active steps
"The war for talent is so fierce in urban India that you really should not be letting women go easily without fighting for each and every one of them," Mody said at the Business Today’s flagship ‘Most Powerful Women in Business’ event in Mumbai
According to Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson of Piramal Group, the real problem is in the villages, rural areas, or what we call as the aspirational districts. These are the areas where more challenges lie
For Piramal, the key lies in making the environment hospitable for women in the office. "You have to make the environment hospitable for women in your office. It’s not just women development but women-led development," she pointed
It is important to go to the root cause of every woman's problem, highlighted Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson and CEO of Salesforce India. "We have to understand why women are leaving the workforce and going away," she said
Underlining that the pandemic was a bright spot as people accepted flexibility in working, Bhattacharya talked about the need to offer customised solutions by understanding every woman's problem
The women leaders also said that changes have started reflecting in the last few years and now there is a need to develop on that. The changes are women being more aware of their capabilities and talent, parents investing in the girl child, and more
However, there's a still a long way to go, believe experts. The path towards the big change has just begun and the key lies in 'empowerment' -- empowering women at every step of their journey