Women Participation In MSME Sector At 24 PC: Study

In a recent report by CIEL HR, it was revealed that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, which accounts for generating the largest employment opportunities in India, has recorded a relatively higher rate of women participation in the workforce compared to other industries.

The study named employment trends in the MSME sector stated that more than 20 per cent of proprietary MSMEs are owned by women with West Bengal leading at 23.4 per cent followed by 10.4 per cent in Tamil Nadu.

However, despite high participation in the sector, the study revealed that their involvement at the leadership level is only 10 per cent. It also mentioned that over the past two years, the MSME sector has witnessed a whopping 45.5 per cent growth in employee headcount. The report suggested that due to the lack of skilled manpower and hesitance to adopt technology, only 7 per cent of the employees work in the IT field.  

Aditya Narayan Mishra, Managing Director and CEO, CIEL HR Services, said “The MSME sector is one of the significant sectors for the growth of our economy with their 30 per cent contribution to the GDP.”

He said that while there has been a steady increase in the women’s participation rate in the MSME industry, the study has also revealed the need for better gender representation at an executive level for improved organisational climate and better financial performance.

Meanwhile, a total of 99 per cent of recruiters are offering an on-site job and MSMEs are unwilling to continue remote working post the pandemic. 

According to a research, more than 70 per cent job seekers in India prefer working in small businesses (SMBs) instead of large enterprises. The research was conducted with 1,320 job seekers and 610 small businesses by analytics firm Valuevox on behalf of Indeed.

The report stated that the jobseekers believe SMBs provide a faster growth curve and a dynamic learning environment as compared to larger companies. More than 73 per cent of India’s talent pool said they prefer having a challenging job role that allows them to step outside their comfort zone and 67 per cent preferred a job that allowed them to innovate and learn. 

The jobseekers are also aware that working at small businesses could mean letting go of a few things. In fact, 44 per cent of job seekers surveyed feel SMBs offer low salaries, inadequate benefits and perks (32 per cent), and have limited resources (31 per cent), said the report. 

“It is evident that job seekers are focused on SMBs which means that they [small businesses] need to lay the foundation for strong HR practices and realize the value of hiring right to flourish and contribute to India’s growing economy,” Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India said. 

According to the report, Bangalore (83 per cent), Mumbai (83 per cent), Chennai (75 per cent), Hyderabad (71 per cent), and Kolkata (69 per cent) are the top five cities where job seekers are highly attracted to SMBs. The IT sector (at 39 per cent) is the most preferred sector of jobseekers followed by hospitality and food (at 24 per cent) and e-commerce (23 per cent). 

The top job roles preferred by India’s talent pool are a software developer followed by sales executive, front desk executive, customer relationship manager and HR associate respectively. 

“SMBs are expected to create 2 million jobs in the next 5 years and hence SMBs must adopt democratic hiring practices that allow them to create a more diverse talent pool,” said Kumar, in the company’s statement.