Many female workers leave as TCS ends work from home

India’s largest software company saw more women than men leaving the company when it called its employees back to work after the end of the pandemic, reported Bloomberg.

This came as a surprise for the IT major where attrition of female workers has been historically lower or equal to their male peers.

TCS Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad said the shift to remote work during the pandemic may have disrupted the domestic responsibilities of some women.

"I would think working from home during the pandemic reset the domestic arrangements for some women, keeping them from returning to office," Lakkad was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

"It is a setback to our efforts to promote gender diversity, but we are doubling down on it."

The availability of remote work options in recent years has been instrumental in attracting and retaining talent, especially women, as it provided them with the flexibility to manage their office and home responsibilities in a hybrid work environment.

However, the current shift away from remote work is resulting in a decline in workforce participation among women, exacerbating an existing issue of low female representation in the workforce.

India’s female workforce is extremely low at 24%, a dangerous trend for the country’s GDP growth aspirations. In contrast, China’s female labour force participation is 61% as per data from the World Bank.

The exit of women from work can further challenge India’s march towards a five trillion dollar economy as women comprise about half of its population.