As India’s workforce expands and formalises, women’s participation continues to tell a story of both progress and persistent gaps. Across sectors, from technology classrooms to corporate leadership, data suggests that while women are increasingly preparing for and entering the workforce, their representation within it remains uneven.
In 2025, women accounted for 28.1% of India’s workforce, according to labour market insights from LinkedIn. The pace of growth has slowed in recent years, with female workforce participation expanding at an average annual rate of 0.60% between 2022 and 2025, compared with 2.18% annually between 2015 and 2022.
The imbalance becomes sharper higher up the ladder. Women hold 18% of leadership roles, a figure that remains significantly below their overall share in the workforce. Attrition also appears early in professional journeys: women make up 35.5% of entry-level roles but only 28.4% at the experienced level, suggesting drop-offs during the early stages of career progression.
Yet, the pipeline entering the workforce reflects a different momentum. India’s labour market is becoming increasingly young and formalised. According to Quess Corp’s Pulse FY26 report, the expansion of payroll-linked employment and organised staffing models continues to bring more workers into the formal economy. Between April and July 2025 alone, 6.9 million new EPFO payroll additions were recorded, signalling steady growth in formal employment.
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Much of this workforce growth is being driven by younger entrants. Within the Quess ecosystem, 64% of workers are under the age of 30, reflecting a labour market increasingly shaped by early-career professionals entering sectors such as retail, logistics, telecom and consumer services.
However, women remain a smaller share of this organised workforce pipeline. The Quess report notes that female participation stands at around 17% of its workforce.
At the same time, education and skill development pipelines suggest women are increasingly entering technical fields. Data from skilling platform Masai indicates that women make up 26% of active learners, with 7,206 women currently enrolled in programmes focused on technology and software development.
Among those securing jobs, a majority are entering core engineering roles rather than support functions — 32% of women graduates are placed as software development engineers and 31% in MERN stack development roles, meaning more than 60% of placements are concentrated in mainstream coding tracks.
These trends point to a growing willingness among women to enter technology-driven roles, even as broader workforce participation remains limited. LinkedIn’s data shows that women are also actively preparing for changes in the future of work. 76% of women say they are looking for jobs in 2026, compared with 69% of men, despite 85% reporting satisfaction in their current roles.
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Women also report strong confidence in adapting to new technologies, with 90% saying they feel confident using artificial intelligence at work, and 35% are actively learning AI skills to strengthen their job prospects, compared with 29% of men.
Yet structural barriers remain visible in how opportunities translate into outcomes. Placement data from Masai shows that women securing technology roles in metro cities report an average salary of ₹3.24 lakh annually, compared with ₹2.85 lakh in tier-1 cities and lower averages across smaller towns.
Learners also cite constraints that extend beyond skills. These include balancing multiple responsibilities, navigating pregnancy or maternity transitions, financial pressures and limitations around relocation or attending placement drives.
Taken together, the data reflects a workforce in transition. India’s labour market is expanding through formal employment channels, younger entrants and technology-led opportunities. Within that shift, women are increasingly visible in emerging skill pipelines and digital roles, even as their representation across the broader workforce, particularly in leadership and organised employment, continues to lag.
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