Retaining women in blue-collar jobs is essential to building a stable workforce, especially as India aims to lead the global labour market, said Guruprasad Srinivasan, executive director and CEO of staffing and workforce solutions provider Quess Corp, adding that India cannot fully realise the benefits of its demographic dividend if half the population remains outside the workforce.
Report by Quess corp
A joint report by The Udaiti Foundation, a non-government organisation fostering gender balance and diversity in the workplace, and Quess Corp, released on Thursday, reveals that 52% of women with less than one year of experience plan to leave their jobs within the next 12 months. The study covered over 10,000 women in blue- and grey-collar roles across logistics, manufacturing, retail, and services sectors.
The staffing industry in India is projected to grow at a 13% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), reaching $49 billion by 2033 from the current $19 billion. However, Srinivasan cautioned that unless attrition is addressed, net job creation in the formal sector will remain weak despite high gross hiring numbers.“The end goal is to focus on job quality, equal access and long-term employability rather than job creation alone,” he told FE.
Future projection
The blue-collar workforce is projected to account for 70% of all employment by 2030, yet women’s share has only risen marginally — from 16% in FY21 to 19% in FY24 per PLFS data — with most gains lost to early exits.Among women who exited placements with Quess Corp in the past six months, 67% are currently not working, further shrinking an already limited pool of partially trained, job-ready female workers. Women currently make up 17% of QuessCorp’s associate workforce in these segments.
“In order to grow our economy, we have to dismantle the systemic barriers that create hurdles for women to enter the workforce,” said Pooja Sharma Goyal, founding CEO of The Udaiti Foundation. “When women earn, there is a cascading effect in the community as they demand better healthcare and better education,” she added.
The report highlights that access to social security schemes such as provident fund (PF), ESIC, and performance-based incentives significantly improves retention. Married women with PF are three times more likely to stay employed, while performance incentives boost retention up to seven times in some segments.
Srinivasan added that compliance alone does not guarantee retention, and companies must address additional factors such as workplace safety, transportation, and proximity to residence.
While better job opportunities are the top reason for exit across genders, a higher proportion of women cited family responsibilities, pregnancy, and health-related challenges as causes for leaving employment.
To address this, Quess Corp has introduced several retention measures, including the deployment of female liaison officers at manufacturing sites, housing for migrant women, and DASH, a mobile-based financial product that offers salary advances.