In March 2024, the number of female employees at major IT companies fell to 5.15 million.
The survey was conducted by recruitment firm Xpheno and highlighted gender diversity at top IT companies.
A recent study found that the country's top IT companies are seeing a decline in female workforce due to high retirement rates in the industry. According to a study by recruitment firm Xpheno, around 25,000 women employees quit top IT companies such as TCS and Infosys in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24).
Across India's top IT companies, including Infosys, TCS, Wipro, LTI Mindtree and HCL Tech, the number of female employees has declined.
The study, conducted by staffing firm Xpheno, highlighted the gender diversity of the country's top IT companies. Since the COVID-19 incident, the overall number of female employees in the industry has increased significantly. However, gender diversity rates remained stagnant.
The report found that the overall number of female employees within top IT companies increased from March 2020 to March 2023. The number was found to have increased from approximately 3,74,000 to 5,40,000. However, by March 2024, the number of female employees at major IT companies had fallen to 5.15 million.
Between FY2020 and FY2024, the total number of female employees increased by 38% to 1,41,000. However, the gender ratio only increased by 0.9%. From fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2020, female employment increased by 1.56%.
The study found that there has been a significant decline in the number of women in leadership roles in the Indian IT sector. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder and Chairman of Avtar Group, said: “This lack of progress can be frustrating for ambitious women. “Imagine being committed to a field but facing constant obstacles to advancement and fair compensation.”
According to her, the lack of opportunities for newly employed women, despite coming from diverse backgrounds, can be incredibly frustrating.
It was found that in IT companies, about 26% of women were forced to resign.