Upskilling essential for career opportunities for women returning to work: Survey

Women’s career development platform JobsForHer affirmed that upskilling is becoming increasingly important for better career opportunities in the job economy that is deeply affected by the pandemic. 

A survey conducted in association with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s S P Jain Institute of Management And Research showed a 23 percent increase in women choosing to upskill for the job market compared to last year.

As workplaces adopt a hybrid working environment, JobsForHer reported a 40 percent rise in the number of career opportunities available for women on its platform in the past one year.

“Women professionals are determined to step back into the workforce and are actively looking for opportunities for both upskilling and career comebacks,” the release states.

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While 94 percent of women surveyed believe upskilling will improve a candidate’s scope for employment, 60 percent agree that a management degree will climb the professional ladder.

Neha Bagaria, Founder and CEO of JobsForHer, said, “Women returnees are looking for curated courses both online and offline. They have realised the potential and importance of upskilling in building their confidence and giving them a feel of the corporate world before making a full-fledged career comeback.”

In May 2021, DivHERsity Benchmarking Report gathered data from over 300 companies across industries and sectors. It revealed that hiring of women in middle and senior management rose to 43 percent in 2020, up from mere 18 percent in 2019.

Additionally, 41 percent of startups surveyed for the report had achieved their goal of gender diversity hiring in 2020, establishing that several companies are adopting initiatives that help eliminate gender biases to create a more diverse workplace.

There has been a rise in the number of work-from-home jobs, as well as the number of applications for them.

Women are bearing a greater brunt of pandemic-induced economic crisis globally where female employment 13 million lower than in 2019 whereas male employment has mostly recovered to pre-pandemic levels, as per International Labour Organisation's report.