With an aim to improve and promote gender diversity at their respective workplaces, India’s information and technology (IT) giants, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCL Technologies and Infosys, are planning to hire over 60,000 women candidates via campus placements in 2021.
HCL plans to hire 60 per cent of women candidates and is the most ambitious out of all these companies. The firm plans to hire 22,000 candidates for entry-level roles this year alone.
Wipro and Infosys are looking at hiring about 50 per cent women candidates in entry-level recruitments. Wipro aims to hire 30,000 candidates via campus placement this year, out of which half are likely to be women. Infosys is looking forward to hire 45 per cent female workforce in its total workforce till 2030 while it aims to hire and train nearly 35,000 college graduates.
TCS is planning to on-board 15,000-18,000 woman employees to its workforce that already employs 1.85 lakh workers.
The woman-first hiring plans of IT companies have come at a time when the participation of women in the workforce has continued to decrease. According to the World Bank, India’s female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) dropped to 20.8 per cent in 2019. The FLFPR was about 30.27 per cent in 1990. However, the recent initiatives by tech-first companies are expected to bring a change. Diversity policies focus not only on granting certain entitlements but also on creating support systems that lead to a level-playing field. The IT industry in India currently has a gender diversity ratio of 33 per cent, a result of significant industry interventions over the years, according to industry body, Nasscom.