The survey conducted by community platform LocalCircles has revealed that about 43 percent of MSMEs and startups are intending to hire women employees in the next six months. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the new employment of women with small businesses for the past eight months, and the MSMEs plan is expected to change the situation.
With work-from-home becoming the new normal for most of the technology-driven businesses and white-collar jobs even in traditional businesses, most of the sectors’ growth is gradually recovering. Thus, LocalCircles states that this scenario is likely to aid more women to find job opportunities in the forthcoming months. The survey has received responses from more than 7,000 startup and MSMEs spread all over the country.
The strict lockdown imposed due to the pandemic has tremendously affected India’s startup and MSMEs ecosystem. This certainly has hindered the revenues and operations of the businesses resulting in many of the businesses considering cost-cutting or even shut down the company temporarily or permanently.
LocalCircles carried out the survey to get the pulse of the startup and MSMEs on their workforce adjustment post-COVID-19. Hence, most MSMEs are focused on the employment of women has changed in their business, and is particularly on hiring women in the next six months. In 2017, the government had passed the Maternity Amendment that increased the rights to paid maternity leave for working women from three to six months- the third highest in the world. This came as good news for new mothers, but it hindered women's employment in many small businesses. In turn, they minimized the hiring of women in their organizations just due to their financial reasons and to cut the cost of funding maternity leave benefits, says LocalCirces reports.
On the question of how women's employment has served the business in the last eight months of the pandemic. Seven percent of the companies responded, that women in their workforce have been reduced by 50-100 percent. Around 12 percent responded that their workforce has decreased by 25-50 percent and another 12 percent said this minimized by up to 25 percent.
Additionally, around 46 percent have stated that they still have the same number of women in the workforce as pre-COVID-19. However, not a single business has reported an improvement in the number of women employees during the 8 months of the pandemic.
The survey had unveiled that about 78 percent of small businesses in India have reduced their workforce in the last eight months after the pandemic outbreak. However, About 22 percent of these businesses have the same or increased workforce in comparison with pre-Covid levels. Furthermore, the government has also taken necessary measures to aid these small businesses through the Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme. But, according to LocalCircles, its advantages as per the feedback from businesses in July this year have been limited.
