Relevance: GS-3: Inclusive Growth and issues arising from it.

Key Phrases: Deloitte survey, Women are disproportionately disadvantaged, IMF, hybrid work culture, microaggression experiences, Flexible work arrangements.

Why in News?

• Recently, a Deloitte survey has highlighted that India’s working women are more likely than their global peers to feel burnt out, underpaid and stressed at the workplace, even if they adjust to the growing hybrid work culture.
• Further, Indian women are also significantly more likely than others to face instances of micro-aggression from colleagues if they work in hybrid or fully remote set-ups.
• The survey of 5,000 women in 10 nations, with 500 respondents from India, was undertaken between November 2021 and February 2022.

Key Findings of the Report:

• Report found that despite the growth in hybrid work culture, which generally implies better adjustments in the professional working environment, the feeling of burnout in an increasing number of working women has affected their mental health and is draining them of general enthusiasm and optimism toward work.
• Indian women (48%) were slightly more likely than the global average (46%) to say they felt burnt out.
• More women in the younger cohort, in the age group of 18-25, experienced this level of burnout (63%.
• Working longer hours could be a main cause:
  1. Women whose work schedules changed as a result of the pandemic were far more burnt out (69%) than others (18%).
  2. Around 56% Indian women said their stress levels had risen over the past year, against 53% globally.

  

• What are Work-related stress findings:
  • One in every two women indicated their mental health was either extremely poor or poor. This was similar to that of their global counterparts.
  • One-third have taken time off work due to mental health issues, and just 41% are comfortable discussing these concerns at work.
  • Thus, the hybrid working culture was of little help to women in the workplace.
  • Moreover, a huge proportion, both in India and elsewhere, believed that asking for flexible working hours would rob them of any chance of promotion (94% for both India and global).
• Findings regarding women who are experiencing workplace micro-aggression:
  • Seven out of ten (69%) Indian women working in a hybrid set-up reported encountering some form of micro-aggression at work—slightly more than the global figure (66%).
• Women workers’ top three micro-aggression experiences were:
  1. Being interrupted in meetings
  2. Being excluded from male-dominated activities
  3. Having less informal connections with coworkers as a result of the hybrid work environment.
• Women in India saw fewer instances of non-inclusive conduct—harassment or micro-aggression—in 2022 than 2021:
• Although the share of non-inclusive conduct—harassment or micro-aggression is still high (57%). But as many as 24% of women did not report such instances in India, as compared to 31% globally.
• The top three reasons for not reporting these actions were:
  • They did not believe the behaviour was serious enough to report.
  • They did not believe the complaint would be taken seriously.
  • They were ashamed of speaking up.
• Women in India are nearly as likely (60%) as others to be wanting to quit or plan to leave their existing roles.

What Can be Done to Improve The Work Culture of the Organisation as Women Friendly ?

• Incentivise Organizations to identify women with high potential and ensure that they are provided opportunities to accelerate.
• Another positive move is the increasing openness of organizations and more transparency in the work culture.
• In advanced economies, more women are willing to work if they have access to parental leave and affordable child care.
• Flexible work arrangements help women to juggle their many responsibilities and to achieve a better work-life balance.
• It’s also important to allay negative perceptions associated with utilizing flex options, by making them more broad-based and encouraging their use for both men and women.
• Organizations need to proactively coach employees on biases that unconsciously play out through body language, day-to-day behaviour and word choices.
• Every organisation should need to be a platform for proactive solutions, be more inclusive, and must bring male colleagues to the table, as peers, thought leaders and co-beneficiaries of the women empowerment mission.

Conclusion:

• There needs to be a deep organizational belief in the benefit of increasing women’s representation in the workplace, as well as supportive day-to-day actions and behaviours.
• Without these, the effect of all policy measures will remain superficial and even counter-productive.
• A widely covered IMF estimate points out that shrinking the gender differences in employment could expand India’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 27%.
• Unlocking this potential definitely requires an increase and shift in the composition of overall employment opportunities as well as questioning of societal strictures.
• As the country commends itself on world-leading economic growth and aspires towards a $5 trillion economy, organizations need to take women along to make this goal a reality.
• Societal change will be the largest needle mover, but a constant push through the government, organizations and individuals is critical to bend societal norms for the better.

Source: Live Mint

Mains Question:

Q. What explains the paradox of higher stress rate in hybrid work culture rather than work from office culture, specifically with respect to Indian women ?( 15 marks).