India is on verge of ‘flexidus,’ many women quitting jobs due to ‘lack of flexibility’: Study

New Delhi: According to LinkedIn research, a large number of women in the country are resigning or contemplating leaving their job because of numerous issues like salary reduction, bias and exclusion. Their common grudge is ‘lack of flexibility’ at work. LinkedIn, the leading online professional network with an aim to know the issues women face at work and conducted a survey of over 2,000 respondents. It unveiled its annual consumer research on Tuesday. According to the study, employers’ views regarding flexible working and career breaks are preventing women from cotinuing with the profession. According to LinkedIn’s research, 8 out of 10 working women (83%) have decided they want to work more frequently as a function of the pandemic’s impact.

According to the study, 72% of working women reject workplaces that don’t enable people to work flexibly, and 70% have already quit or are considering resigning because they were not being given the right flexible policies. When asked about the merits of flexible working, nearly two-fifths of women said it boosts their work-life balance and helps them advance in their businesses, while one-third said it improves their mental health and helps to stay in their existing positions. However, due to strong workplace bias, India’s working women are paying top dollar for working flexibly, and per the report, with 9 out of 10 working women having to take a pay cut, 2 out of 5 having their Flexi – work request denied, and 1 out of 4 finding it hard to compel their bosses to accept their request.

According to the study, women are shy about asking for more flexibility because they are afraid of being ostracized, being held back from advancements, working extra, taking pay cuts, and being perceived harshly by their superiors. According to research, India is on verge of a ‘flexidus,’ with 9 out of 10 working women departing or considering quitting due to a lack of flexibility.

“If employers and recruiters don’t want to lose top talent, they must erase the stigmatization of the need for flexibility and career pauses, and create appropriate flexibility policies,” said Ruchee Anand, Senior Director, India Talent & Learning Solutions, LinkedIn.

Despite the obvious advantages of sabbaticals, roughly four out of five (77%) working women in India who took one feel it harmed their careers. This is owing to the widespread stigma that persists among recruiters and employers regarding career interruptions. LinkedIn is introducing Career Breaks, a new feature that allows individuals to add a career break to their LinkedIn profile and showcase how they may apply their learnings to positions they are keen on.

“By enabling women to better express their amazing perspectives to their relationships and recruiters, this tool will de-stigmatise curriculum vitae voids as part of our professional journeys,” Anand said.