Women hold just 1 in 5 blue collar jobs, wage gap and career barriers persist: Study

Women in India’s blue-collar workforce hold just one in five jobs, according to the latest survey by Indeed, a job matching and hiring platform. Despite increasing hiring intent, challenges ranging from wage disparities to poor sanitation continue to hold women back.

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According to the survey, while 73% of the surveyed employers said they hired women for blue-collar roles in 2024, female participation remained stagnant at 20% across the country.

The study covered 2,673 blue-collar women workers and 1,262 employers across 14 industries, including automobile, BFSI, e-commerce, travel & hospitality, FMCG, and manufacturing. The cities surveyed included Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. More female presence in retail, pharma and constructionIndustries such as retail (32%), healthcare and pharmaceuticals (32%), construction and real estate (30%), and travel and hospitality (28%) showed increase female representation. However, telecommunications, BFSI, and IT/ITeS lagged behind, with female participation below 10%.