Industry Roundtable on Strategies for Advancing Gender-Inclusive Growth

The roundtable was convened to deepen private-sector participation in She Works and identify practical ways to move from gender-inclusive intent to workplace action. It also marked the Letter of Intent to collaborate between PHDCCI and IPE Global, towards advancing women in the labour force.

Participants discussed how employers can help raise young women's participation in formal work through safer workplaces, better hiring practices, and stronger skilling-to-employment pipelines. The conversation linked the She Works workstreams with the Gender Knowledge Hub as a source of practical tools.

What employers discussed

• Demand-side barriers included biased job postings, rigid hiring criteria, and hesitation around entry-level field or shopfloor roles.
• Employers need clearer business cases, including gender-disaggregated data on productivity, retention, and hiring costs.
• POSH compliance, safe accommodation, basic amenities, and practical training were discussed as enablers rather than obstacles.
• Low-cost steps such as woman points of contact, safer job ads, CCTV, and manager training can start change quickly.

Way forward for businesses

PHDCCI member companies can translate the Letter of Intent momentum into firm-level commitments by setting targets, nominating gender champions, revising hiring criteria and job advertisements, and identifying low-cost enablers such as women points of contact, basic amenities, POSH awareness and manager training.

Who was in the room: Industry leaders, civil society and development-sector representatives.