According to a report in the Economic Times, this year, big IT players like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL Tech are poised to hire close to 60,000 women across various campuses, in a bid to improve gender diversity at the workplace.
The report claims that close to 60 per cent of new employees hired at HCL this year would be women. Companies like Wipro and Infosys are each set to hire women as half of their entry-level recruits. In keeping with the last three year, the figures at TCS, is likely to be 38-45 per cent. HCL Tech, which plans to hire 22,000 graduates from campuses this year, aims to achieve the 50:50 ratio mix in gender diversity in the coming years.
The Indian IT industry is definitely making strides with gender diversity, and goes above and beyond lip-service or tokenism. The company’s diversity policies focus not only on providing certain benefits, but also on creating support systems that encourage equality and level the playing field.
Presently, the IT sector in India has a gender diversity ratio of 33 per cent, and according to industry body Nasscom, is a direct result of significant industry interventions over the years.
In a statement to the newspaper, Richard Lobo, HR Head, Infosys, said, “On average, our entry-level hiring mix is an equal number of men and women. However, we hire on merit. This is in addition to lateral hiring… in response to the robust demand situation,” Lobo mentioned.
The present focus of Infosys is to have women make up 45 per cent of the workforce by 2030. The company is also gearing up to hire 35,000 college graduates for the financial year 2022. Women now make up 38.6 per cent of the total workforce.
The paper also reported that India’s largest IT services company, TCS, is set to hire 15,000-18,000 women. The company will be hiring over 40,000 graduates across campuses in the fiscal year 2021-22, and presently have 185,000 female associates in their employee roster.
The report also stated that Wipro will hire 12,000 graduates in FY22— 33 per cent higher than the previous year. The company plans to maintain a 50:50 ratio, with women presently accounting for 35 per cent of the workforce.