Industry Roundtable on Advancing Women's Participation in Formal Employment

The Jaipur consultation focused on barriers and enablers shaping women's access to formal employment in Rajasthan, where regular wage and salaried employment among women remains low. It aimed to deepen employer commitment to gender-inclusive hiring.

Representatives from government and leading companies examined what prevents women from entering and staying in formal jobs. The discussion centred on safety, transport, wage viability, decentralised operations, and the need for industry-government collaboration on practical retention measures.

What employers discussed

• Night-shift safeguards, transport, security, and dedicated infrastructure raise operational costs for employers.
• Decentralised models such as dark stores face greater constraints than centralised warehouses or offices.
• Low entry wages and added gender-responsive costs affect the business case for expanding women's employment.
• Trust-building recruitment messages should clearly show job roles, location, hostel facilities, and safety arrangements.

Way forward for businesses

Employers can strengthen the business case for women's employment by measuring the costs and returns of gender-responsive infrastructure, retention support and safer shift arrangements. Companies can make recruitment messages more trust-building by clearly showing job roles, location, hostel facilities and safety arrangements.

Who was in the room: Directorate of Employment, Rajasthan; RSLDC; employers; FSG; and the She Works team.