Parul
Seven in 10 working women in India have resigned or are considering quitting their jobs this year as pay cuts, bias and exclusion become their penalties for working flexibly amid the pandemic, a LinkedIn report revealed on Tuesday.
The research by Microsoft-owned professional networking platform found that poor employer sentiment towards flexible working and career breaks is holding women back from asking for greater flexibility and re-entering the workforce.
While eight in 10 (83 per cent) of working women have realised they want to work more flexibly, 70 per cent have already quit or considered quitting their jobs because they weren’t offered the right flexible policies.
When asked about the benefits of flexible working, around two in five women said it improves their work-life balance and helps them progress their careers, while one in three said it improves their mental health and increases their likelihood of staying in their current jobs.
However, due to strong employer bias, India’s working women are paying heavy penalties to work flexibly, the report noted.
Nine in 10 working women had to take a pay cut to work flexibly, two in five had their flexible working request denied and one in four struggled to convince their bosses to accept their request.
