Indian women hold only 1 in 5 blue collar jobs, finds survey

With harsh workplace challenges ranging from wage disparities to poor sanitation, women hold just one in five jobs in blue-collar workforce in the country, a latest survey has revealed.

After studying over 4,000 employers and employees across 14 industries in tier 1 and 2 cities, the survey by job matching and hiring platform Indeed has shown that while 73 per cent of employers hired women for blue-collar roles in 2024, female participation remained stagnant at 20 per cent nationwide.

Blue-collar occupations are formally defined as those labour roles that primarily involve manual or physical work. It said industries such as retail, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, construction and real estate, and travel and hospitality lead with average 30 per cent women’s participation, while telecommunications, BFSI, and IT/ITES have below 10 per cent representation.

The report said even as more women are seeking blue-collar jobs primarily for financial independence, workplace realities remain harsh.

“Over half of the surveyed women cite a lack of flexible shifts as a barrier. The nature of blue-collar jobs often demands strict shift timings, making it difficult for women to balance work and personal responsibilities,” the survey found, while highlighting a significant wage disparity exists in India’s blue-collar sector, with 42 per cent of women believing they are underpaid.