In comparison to last year, there is a 132% increase in the number of women users on jobs and professional networking platform apna.co,  with a majority of them looking for remote working jobs.

According to the platforms' data, there has been a two-fold increase in women applying for remote working jobs during the last eight months of the year.  

More women have been looking for a remote job with lesser commute time being the primary motivator, as these jobs can provide flexible working hours which allows them to support their household work/pursue alternate forms of income generation such as tuitions/creches from home, the data reveals.

The most in-demand work from home (WFH) jobs include BPO jobs such as telecalling or telesales, computer, data entry operator, executive roles including business development, back office, admins, office assistant, academics jobs such as teachers, tutor, finance jobs like accounts/finance and marketing related roles.

A recent report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) found that a significant proportion of women usually reported their willingness to accept work if assignments were made available at their household premises. It also indicates that 34% of rural Indian women and 28% in urban areas were willing to accept work at home.

Not only has WFH been a popular trend in metro cities like Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata, but cities such as Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Patna, and Jaipur have also recorded the maximum applications for work from home jobs.

This year, apna.co platform, which claims to have more than 5.1 million women users, also saw a surge in employers looking for remote working candidates as well.

Cities such as Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Lucknow recorded an increase in the number of WFH jobs being posted this year, clearly highlighting how remote work has penetrated deeper into Bharat.

There has also been a rise in women applying to unconventional job roles such as delivery partners, drivers, aircraft repair, and backend engineers amongst others.

“The flexibility and the convenience brought by remote working has the potential to inspire more professionals to join the workforce, further accelerating the economic engine of the country,” said Manas Singh, chief business officer, apna.co

The importance of remote work was even highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently. Addressing a national conference of labour ministers of all states and Union Territories recently, he reiterated that full participation of the workforce will be imperative to make India a global leader, and that remote working and flexible working hours will be integral in strengthening the participation of the women workforce, enabling India to achieve its economic goals faster.