Women’s re-entry into workforce: Experiences from India

Abstract

Working lives face several interruptions, either due to employers’ decisions, new regulations or individuals’ choices, resulting in breaks, slumps, stagnations or even exits. Several types of job seekers thus arise due to such interruptions, of which one category comprises individuals seeking to re-enter the workforce after a period of voluntary exit. Most South Asian countries face a challenge of low labor force participation of women with the exit of women significantly high in middle and senior levels of an organization. The Indian workforce reports a reduction in the number of women at higher organizational positions. While the percentage of women employees hired at the entry level across industries is 21, it shrinks to 15% at higher positions; of these 28% quit their jobs at the executive levels. One of the primary reasons for women leaving the workforce is child-birth. However, recent years have seen such women seeking to return to full-time work after a voluntary exit. This chapter shall focus on the experiences of women who left their jobs post child-birth and returned to the industry after a prolonged absence. We use the term re-entry women to describe such women and seek to understand their experiences of re-entry. Based on interviews with 15 women in various professions, we present the work and family expectations as perceived by women and try to understand how they navigate these during re-entry.