2X jump in Work from Home jobs by women: Report

In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisioned India to become a $5 trillion economy and global powerhouse by 2024-25. In 2022, he reiterated that full participation of the workforce will be imperative to make India a global leader. He also stated that remote working and flexible working hours will be integral in strengthening the participation of the women workforce, enabling India to achieve its economic goals faster. 

According to recent government data, the Indian economy is refuelling with 13.5% growth in the April-June quarter of FY23, exhibiting the fastest growth in the last four quarters. 

However, working towards making India a global leader and discussing the changing office setup of the country, the rising workforce and its female professionals should not be excluded. According to an analysis done by apna.co, India’s leading jobs and professional networking platform, in comparison to last year, it has recorded 132 per cent increase in the number of women users on the platform with a majority of them looking for remote working jobs. 

It also said that there has been a 2X increase in women applying for remote working jobs during the last 8 months of the year. 

More women have been looking for a remote job with lesser commute time being the primary motivator that can provide flexible working hours which allows them to support their household work/pursue alternate forms of income generation such as tuitions/creches from home.

"The flexibility and the convenience brought by remote working has the potential to inspire more professionals to join the workforce, further accelerating the economic engine of the country," Manas Singh, Chief Business Officer, apna.co, said.

A recent report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) found that a significant proportion of women usually reported their willingness to accept work if assignments were made available at their household premises. The ILO report also indicates that 34% of rural Indian women and 28% in urban areas were willing to accept work at home.

Work From Home Jobs 

The most in-demand work from home jobs includes BPO jobs such as telecalling or telesales, computer, data entry operator, executive roles including business development, back office, admins, office assistant, academics jobs such as teachers, tutor, finance jobs like accounts/finance and marketing related roles. 

Not only has WFH been a popular trend in metro cities like Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata, but cities such as  Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Patna and Jaipur have also recorded the maximum applications for work from home jobs, clearly highlighting how remote work has penetrated deeper.