Career comebacks not all uphill if women upskill

Women in India are upskilling like never before as work from home and flexible work opportunities make career comebacks easier. The trend that started during the pandemic - even as the participation of women in the workforce dropped - has gained strength since then.

According to data from learning platform Coursera, women currently constitute 38% of the 18 million learners in India, the highest-ever representation for the segment. Before the pandemic, women learners accounted for 26% of 5 million learners in India.

Online learning platform Simplilearn estimates that the number of women enrolled in paid upskilling courses has doubled since September 2019. The Coursera data resonated with a 2021 year-end survey by Simplilearn, in which 63% of women said upskilling was a key next step in their career growth and 38% of female learners said they used the pandemic disruption to learn new skills.


"We have seen a 97% growth in women enrolment in 2022, compared to 2019," said Anand Narayanan, chief product officer, Simplilearn. "While indicating gender is not compulsory, and 70% of learners don't share their gender on the platform, of those who do share, 25% are women. This number has increased from 20% in 2019 to 25% today."

Online Learning Trend

During the pandemic, they took to online learning in a big way as work from home opportunities opened up the job market for women who had, for various reasons, moved out of the workforce. Also, the need to stay relevant at work is prompting women to upskill during technology disruption.

"As organisations look for the best talent, a crucial and under-explored talent pool is qualified, skilled women who dropped out of the workforce at some point during the pandemic but are willing to return to work," said Rajul Mathur, consulting leader, India, work and rewards, WTW. "Not only are they experienced, with an advantage of lower time-to-productivity, but they would also need lower training investment as compared to freshers."

Additionally, a significant percentage of women across sectors drop out from the workforce mid-career due to several life-stage conflicts, said Lakshmi C, managing director and lead, human resources, Accenture in India.

Updating Competencies | page 4
Starting afresh after a prolonged career break can seem daunting at first, she added. "As a result, hands-on guidance on returning to the professional world, along with reskilling or upskilling opportunities in one's chosen domain, are imperative to not just re-joining the workforce but also to building a fulfilling career," said Accenture's Lakshmi C.

This population serves as a ready pool for jobs requiring requisite experience, skills and maturity, added Mathur.

Upskilling is also a popular option for women who want to freelance instead of returning to a fixed 9-5 routine, said Gordana Landen, global chief human resources officer, The Adecco Group. "Capabilities and competencies get obsolete every few years," Landen said. "A lot of women upskill themselves to learn new things. We will see this evolve further over time."

India has one of the lowest female workforce participation rates. At the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, urban women seemed to quit or lose jobs in big numbers.

The urban female rate of workforce participation dipped to 15.5% in April-June 2020, the first quarter of the lockdown. It has since improved to 20.9% in April-June 2022, according to data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey of the National Statistical Office.