Work from home is a necessity after the Covid-19 pandemic. Following initial lockdown days, many corporate sectors have opened their offices and have resumed work in a fully offline mode or a hybrid mode. However, the majority of the IT sector is still working from home and will continue to do so for some more time. As most of the work is online in the IT industry, productivity has not gone down, and work-life balance seem to have increased following the work from home policy. This is one of the reason the IT sector is not willing to fully open even post-pandemic.
Study gives mixed results when it comes to whether work from home has benefitted women. A study by the New York Post found that men are finding work from home easier compared to women. This can be said mostly for women having school children or kids. While men can work freely at their own desk or corner, women have to manage all the household tasks plus all office work. With their kids and family members around, women are also finding it stressful to maintain a work-life balance. Read more about this study here.
Another study suggests that women leaving IT companies has declined to half of that before the pandemic. Many women leave their jobs after they become mothers, and IT companies are no exception. However, since work from home started, remote working and flexible working hours gives women more time to spend at home, they can look after their children, take care of the household, and at the same time give some of their time towards work. It has also been found that more women are returning to work as their children grow older. IT companies have thus been hiring more experienced women than ever before. Women employees now constitute 36% in Wipro, a number which has doubled in the last 18 months. Moreover, the company has offered flexible working options, which give employees control over how they plan their day, which has also helped. An internal survey by the company revealed that this has helped 77% of women employees.
Another study suggests that WFH is the reason why women are looking for jobs that offer work from home, flexible working conditions, and better worm-like balance. The option to work from home could be the most effective way to attract and retain female employees, especially when IT sectors are amid a war for talent. In the survey, about 25% of the men cited the WFH option as influencing their decision to move jobs, while for women, this was 63%. WFH, or even hybrid model of work is giving enough IT opportunities to grab as most companies are hiring a record number of employees. Work sector in India has been a men dominated one. But with emerging new working conditions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, gender diversity may increase in almost every field in major IT industries and beyond. This International Women’s Day, let’s hope that Indian women can represent half of India’s workforce in the coming years.
Written by – Himadri Paul