Over 52 Pc NSE Listed Companies Employ Less Than 10 Pc Women: Report

Even as there has been a steady progress in workforce inclusion, a report on Tuesday revealed that more than half of NSE-listed companies still employ less than 10 per cent women.

Around 52 per cent of NSE-listed companies still employ less than 10 per cent women, despite the increase in disclosures, reveals the 5th edition of not-for-profit organisation Udaiti's flagship 'Close the Gender Gap (CGG) Dashboard for 2024-25' report.

This data emphasised the need for stronger action and sector-specific interventions to improve women's representation across industries.

The 'CGG Dashboard for 2024-25 is based on data from 1,386 NSE-listed companies, extracted from Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reports (BRSR) and annual company reports. It includes an analysis of gender representation, pay gaps, leadership inclusion, attrition, and return-to-work rates across multiple sectors.

"Over the last five years, we have seen steady progress in women's workforce inclusion, yet this year's data shows that the pace of change still does not match the growth of India's overall workforce. What we see today is only a partial picture, because just about half of the 2,615 NSE-listed companies report gender-disaggregated data. Greater transparency will reveal where women are entering, where they are being held back, and the structural reasons behind it," Udaiti founding CEO Pooja Sharma Goyal said.

Women's workforce representation is at 18 per cent for the second consecutive year, representing a stagnation in the rate of growth, found the report.

In the last year, where the total workforce grew by 6 per cent, women's employment grew by just 7 per cent, which emphasised that while more women are entering the workforce, their proportional share is not increasing fast enough to meet national economic goals, it stated.

While Hospitals and Labs increased women's representation from 45 per cent to 48 per cent, and Consumer Services rose from 30 per cent to 34 per cent, traditionally strong sectors like IT (34 per cent) and Banking (26 per cent) reported no improvement from the previous year.

This underscores persistent structural barriers even in sectors with large female workforces and established DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) agendas, it added.

When it came to the gender pay gap it was seen narrowing from 6.7 per cent to 3.3 per cent between FY24 and FY25, showing modest progress, though disparities remain.

Textiles (30.4 per cent), Diversified (28.5 per cent), and Metals and Mining (17 per cent) continued to report large gaps despite higher women representation, however, certain men-dominated sectors have shown a reverse pay gap, with women earning more which includes Pharma (8 per cent) and Consumer Durables (7 per cent), revealed the report.

Meanwhile, it also found that there is growing awareness around POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) compliance.

This is reflected in a 16 per cent rise in sexual harassment complaints as more and more women are gaining confidence to report workplace misconduct.

However, a 28 per cent increase in pending cases indicated that redressal mechanisms are not keeping pace with reporting, underscoring the need for stronger, faster grievance systems, it added.

"The recent labour codes represent a bold step in addressing systemic constraints around safety, equal opportunity and workplace design. These changes, combined with gender-smart company policies and sustained action from employers and the government, can significantly accelerate women's economic participation and move India closer to its goal of becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047," Goyal added.