The diversity and inclusion (D&I) policies of corporate India seem to be reaping results. A new report by talent platform foundit Insights Tracker shows a 33% surge in the D&I hirings in the past year to June 2024.
The report said the biggest spike in diversity job postings was witnessed in sectors such as banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI with 30% of total jobs), IT-software & services (19%), healthcare (6%), Internet/e-commerce (4%) and education (3%).
The biggest drivers for higher diversity hiring include companies are structured D&I programmes such as anti-bias training, diverse interview panels, and targeted recruitment to encourage and acknowledge the under-represented groups.
In addition, the job ads are now using inclusive language such as registering a candidate’s preferred pronouns to avoid gender bias.
“Looking ahead, we anticipate an even deeper focus on inclusion through initiatives like mentorship and leadership programmes for under-represented groups and bias training at all levels,” said Sekhar Garisa, CEO at foundit (previously Monster APAC & ME). “The companies can lead with innovative approaches such as D&I labs or councils to deepen inclusion efforts, and reverse mentorship programmes where young employees from diverse backgrounds mentor senior leaders,” he said.
The report said metro cities like Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai lead the way as diversity hiring hubs with a good share of jobs dedicated to women, persons with disability, and the LGBTQIA+ community. “Within the diversity hiring trend, there is a noteworthy focus on promoting women to leadership roles through mentorship and specialised training.
“The data also reveals that 16% of remote work is dedicated to people with disabilities, which shows the benefits of working in location-agnostic companies,” the report said.
Even as the D&I hiring has picked up pace, the overall hiring activity jumped 12% annually (from June 2023
to June 2024), and 15% in first six months of 2024, which highlighted the dynamic and expanding nature of India’s job market.
The report also shows that AI/ML specialists, digital marketers, and data scientists and data analysts emerged as the top roles preferred by top hiring industries in 2024.