Gender diversity records a high, says Avtar Groups study

PNN
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 15: Avtar Group, India’s premier in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Solutions firm, announced the Eighth Edition of Avtar & Seramount Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI) list. Avtar also announced the fifth Edition of the Avtar & Seramount Most Inclusive Companies Index (MICI), a pioneer inclusion Index in the country that recognizes companies whose inclusion intent transcends all diversity dimensions. 
The Eighth edition of BCWI-MICI study commenced in February 2023 and had 354 companies spanning different industry sectors participating in the study, which had over 300 DEI metrices assessed. The comprehensive 2023 BCWI-MICI study sheds light on the progress made by the 100 Best Companies in pursuing gender diversity. The Study has revealed that the 100 Best Companies hired 3.38 Lakh women employees and 5.59 Lakh male employees in 2023. 37.7% of total employees hired are women, indicating strong intent for gender balance. However, the study also shows a 1 percent dip in terms of gender ratio of new hires, which was 38.6% in 2022. The IT sector has added close to 2.02 lakh women as against the number of 3.46 Lakh men, Consulting has hired close to 94,000 women vis-à-vis 1.3 Lakh men in the year 2023.  
A panel discussion between Karthik Ekambaram (Executive Vice President & Director, DEI Solutions, Avtar Group), Dr Saundarya Rajesh (Founder - President, Avtar Group), Aditya Mittal (Managing Director, Chief Human Resources Officer, Citi South Asia), Thirukkumaran (Thiru) Nagarajan (Vice President & CHRO, IBM India/South Asia), Neha Arur (Senior Director, Regional Human Resources Lead, ZS Associates), Umasanker Kandaswamy (Co-founder, Sr Vice President - Sales & Relationships, Avtar Group) lead to healthy discussions on the route each top 10 company has taken to maintain the gender balance. The discussion was during the unveiling the 8th Edition of Avtar & Seramount Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI) and 5th edition of Most Inclusive Companies Index
Presenting the results and key insights of the study, Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder - President, Avtar Group said, “The “Social” part of their ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) goals is a top priority for our 100 Best companies in India. The annual 2023 BCWI-MICI serves as a barometer for assessing the DEI intent, which falls under the ambit of “Social” priorities of ESG in India Inc. In the realm of progress, data is our compass. Gender diversity among the 100 Best Companies continues to increase. The average representation of women (overall) is an inspiring 36.9% this year in 2023 up from 25% in 2016, at the time of the launch of the study. At this current rate, a 50:50 gender balance at Best Companies will be a reality by 2030 - a much sooner time frame given the post-pandemic repercussions.” 
Amongst the companies that feature in the 100 best companies for women in India list, 31% are of Indian origin and the rest are multinational companies. 
The 2023 - Top 10 Best Companies for Women in India, listed alphabetically are: 
Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Barclays in India, Citibank, EY, IBM INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, Infosys Limited, KPMG in India, Publicis Sapient (a division of TLG India Private Limited), Tech Mahindra Limited and ZS.
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