New Delhi, 8th March 2023 – A joint initiative of Naredco Mahi, the women’s wing of Naredco, and JLL has revealed insights into women’s workforce statistics in India’s real estate sector. The report was released on the sidelines of Naredco Mahi’s 2nd convention held in New Delhi.
The report found that women make up only 12% of the real estate workforce in India, with 15% lower pay than men in leadership roles. Only 2% of women hold executive-level positions in construction companies. To reach a $5 trillion economy, India needs to include more of its underrepresented women workforce.
The report highlights several areas where progress has been made, such as a greater focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the adaptability of women in the sector, and the entry of multinational firms. However, there are still challenges to overcome, such as unconscious biases, the gender gap, the glass ceiling, and the lack of women in leadership roles.
The report also includes survey inferences, with 80% of employees feeling that companies are working towards addressing the gender imbalance at senior levels. However, 75% of employees believe there is no focus on developing or fostering female leadership talent in-house, and 70% feel that there is still a need to bridge inherent and/or unconscious bias in hiring.
The joint study calls for upskilling and reskilling, structured interventions such as mentoring and sponsorship programs, building a more flexible and hybrid working model, improving safety and working conditions, and enabling more women to enter the workforce.
“Women participation has almost doubled in the last five years in the workforce of surveyed companies, pointing to positive reinforcement of diverse hiring,” said President Naredco Mahi Dr Ananta Rghuvanshi. “However, there is still much work to be done to ensure gender equality in the real eastate sector in Indira.”
“This study further states that only 2% of women hold leadership roles in construction companies, which needs to be addressed. Women constitute 33% of the workforce in India, compared to 67% of men. Employable women make up 52.8% of employable men, rwith the employability ratio increasing from 46.2% in 2021 to 50.3% in 2022.
Dr. Ananta S Raghuvanshi, Founder Member, and President of NAREDCO Mahi, observed that gender integration in real estate would prove to be an important milestone in the growth of the real estate sector in India. She recognized the contribution of women employees equally and felt that a skilled workforce in real estate is critical to achieving near-perfection in construction.
The joint insight underscores the need to address the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles and to include more women in India’s real estate and construction sector to enable India to reach a $5 trillion economy..
The 2nd NAREDCO Mahi Convention, featured panel discussions on various subjects such as Water Way to go – Jal Bachao Kal Bachao, Green Building and Sustainability, and Scale and Growth of Indian Startups etc. The convention was addressed by leading Real Estate players including Sanjay Dutt CEO & MD Tata Realty Infrastructure Limited