A diverse workforce is one of the strongest pillars of a country. In today’s time of equality and diversification, a current report states that small businesses and start-ups in India avoid hiring women as the employer has to give compulsory maternity leave to the employee when necessary.
Now, it is important to note that diversity in workplaces has been lacking, especially in the technology industry and India is not making the situation any better. After the government imposed a compulsory six-month paid maternity leave back in 2017, many rising companies and start-ups stopped hiring women. This was to save the cost to the company for the compulsory paid leave to the women in the time of pregnancy.
After the government passed the law, many critics anticipated that it would discourage most of the employers to hire more women. The government doubled the paid maternity leave to empower the women in the workforce, however, it turned upside down for the country. As soon as the law became valid, there was a 10% drop in women employees in the workforce of the country.
This is mainly because small companies and budding start-ups cannot afford to pay the full salary for a 24-week leave period. Also, to keep the work flowing, for the time being, the company would need to hire a replacement for the on-leave employee.
So, without even knowing, most of the Indian companies and start-ups are creating diversification issues in the workforce of the country. In a patriarchal country that sees women only in kitchen attire, this type of issue will only worsen the situation.
