Growing Livelihood Opportunities for Women (GLOW)

Context

In India, women’s workforce participation stood at 23.3% in 2019.^[1] 33% of non-working women aged 15-59 from urban families with low income are keen to work.  Aspiring-to-work women are nearly twice as likely to prefer jobs over entrepreneurship, as it provides timely and agreed-on salaries. 1 in 2 women is willing to work in male-dominated and non-traditional workplaces (e.g., warehouses).^[2]

Though women want to work, they remain underrepresented in most large, growing industries in India (e.g., manufacturing, retail, hospitality, logistics, flexi-staffing). Doubling the number of women in these industries can add millions of women to the workforce. Many jobs (e.g., shopfloor associate, warehouse packer, delivery agent) in these industries need minimal training and some women are interested in these jobs. However, many companies do not employ women due to perceived risks (e.g., performance bias, safety bias, motivation bias – “A woman doesn’t have to work”), unknown benefits (e.g., reduced turnaround time, lower absenteeism, more effective work culture), and gender inequitable hiring and retention practices (e.g., recruitment channels, recruitment messaging, on-boarding, and mentoring are optimized for men). However, the reality is that a gender-diverse workforce is good for business and great for the country.

Our Mission

In 2020, FSG launched GLOW to place millions of women from households with low-income in jobs by shifting companies’ mindset and practices. GLOW focuses on creating jobs for women aged 15-59 from families with low-income.^[3] These women account for approximately 83% of the employable age female population in urban India.^[4]

Our Approach

GLOW signs up companies as ‘partners’, and works with them to co-develop a common understanding of the barriers to employ women, brainstorm ideas to address these barriers, and pilot interventions. Once the practical, effective and sustainable best practices are piloted and proven, partners will roll these out to new locations and new job roles. GLOW documents and disseminates these gender-equitable best practices, making it easier and less risky for non-partners to employ women. Over time, more non-partners would see the shift in industry norms and continue to adopt GLOW’s best practices across new geographies, leading to millions of women added in jobs.

GLOW follows a phased approach to double the number of women in jobs across industries. In phase 1, which ran from 2020 to 2025, GLOW focussed on fast-growing industries (logistics, flexi-staffing) with low women’s participation. GLOW aims to scale this approach to large, established industries with some women’s participation (e.g., manufacturing, retail, hospitality).

In phase 1, GLOW signed up 20+ companies as partners in logistics and flexi-staffing industries. Since January 2022, partners have run pilots (e.g., effective channels to recruit women, remuneration policies better aligned to women’s needs, gender-disaggregated data collected) leading to the development of effective practices and a 6-percentage point increase in the women employed. Between 2020 and 2024, flexi-staffing, warehousing and last-mile delivery industries have added 153,000 additional women in jobs. We are hopeful that this trajectory would continue and by 2030, 24% of the workforce will be women and 1m additional women would be in the workforce in these industries.

Our Research

FSG interviewed 6,600 women from households with low income^[5] to understand their beliefs, motivations, and preferences towards employment. We found that women want to be in jobs: 1 out of 2 women are either working or seeking a job. 64% of women strongly believe that to be self-reliant, it is important to work. Supporting personal and family expenses is a key reason for over 90% of women working in, or seeking jobs. Nonworking women are nearly twice as likely to prefer jobs over entrepreneurship. However, 69% of key decision-makers (e.g., husbands and fathers) firmly believe that the main role of a woman is to look after the home and the children. 84% of women need to secure their families’ permission to work. Read more about GLOW’s research findings >

Our Industry Focus

For phase 1, GLOW identified logistics and flexi-staffing as industries with high potential to employ women. Read more about GLOW’s industry selection criteria and process >

• Logistics is the transport and storage of the parcel from the seller to the end-consumer. Roles in the logistics industry include delivery agent, warehouse packer and sorter etc. The logistics industry has the potential to employ approximately 25 million^[6] workers by 2030. As of 2024, only 1.3 %^[7] of logistics workers are women. A gender diverse workforce is beneficial for logistics companies and can help unlock a significant untapped talent pool of women workers. Read more about the logistics industry >
• Flexi-staffing is the provision of semi-skilled frontline employees (e.g., retail promoters, tele-calling agents) to companies. Flexi-staffing has the potential to create approximately 5.6 million^[8,9] jobs by 2030. Multiple frontline roles could be a good fit for women however, employers face barriers in recruiting and retaining women. Read more about the flexi-staffing industry >

For further scale-up, GLOW identified 8 potential industries which are established, large, growing, and have limited women’s participation in entry-level roles.

• Assembly line/ heavy manufacturing includes the manufacturing of electronics equipment, electrical equipment, heavy machinery and equipment, and specialised vehicles. The industry has the potential to employ approximately 4.8 million workers^[10] by 2030. As of 2025, only 12%^[11] of workers in assembly line/ heavy manufacturing are women. A gender diverse workforce could lead to improved productivity, work quality, and work culture. Read more about the assembly line/ heavy manufacturing industry >
• Process-based manufacturing includes the manufacturing of food and beverage, metals, non-metallic mineral products, chemicals, and other manufactured goods (e.g., leather, plastics, toys). The process-based manufacturing industry has the potential to employ approximately 57 million workers^[10] by 2030. As of 2025, 18%^[11] of workers in process-based manufacturing industry are women. Adding more women could lead to improved work quality and culture.
• Retail includes the sales activities of retailers, brands, and distributors. Key entry-level roles span outlet-based roles such as retail store associate and promoter, and field roles such as salesperson and roaming merchandiser. The organised retail industry has the potential to employ approximately 5.2 million workers^[12] by 2028. As of 2025, 28%^[13] of organised retail workers are women. More women can be added across outlet and field roles, and companies can benefit from improved customer experience, brand value, and productivity. Read more about the retail industry >
• Food and Beverage (F&B) services include F&B outlets (e.g., casual dining restaurants, quick service restaurants) and catering activities (e.g., canteens). Key entry-level roles span kitchen roles such as chef and kitchen cleaner, and non-kitchen roles such as all rounder and waiter. The industry has the potential to employ approximately 14 million workers^[14] by 2028. As of 2025, 22%^[11] of F&B services industry workers are women. Hiring more women can lead to improved customer experience and work quality, and lower attrition. Read more about the F&B services industry >
• Accommodation includes commercial (e.g., hotels) and institutional (e.g., company guest houses) accommodation. Entry-level roles are found across front office, guest support, F&B (food and beverage) kitchen and service, housekeeping, and facilities management. The industry has the potential to employ approximately 1.7^[15] million workers by 2029. As of 2025, 21%^[11] of accommodation industry workers are women. A gender diverse workforce could lead to better customer experience and behaviour, lower attrition, and higher productivity.
• Banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) includes banking, lending, insurance, and intermediary operations. Key entry-level roles include field roles such as salesperson and collections officer, and desk roles such as customer support executive and documentation executive. The BFSI industry has the potential to employ approximately 11.7 million workers^[10] by 2031. As of 2025, 19%^[11] of BFSI workers are women. Adding more women could lead to improved customer experience, brand reputation, and work culture. Read more about the BFSI industry >
• Renewable energy (RE) spans power generation, storage, transmission, and distribution across manufacturing, construction/ installation, and operations and maintenance (O&M) functions. Entry-level roles include installation/ erection helpers, solar panel cleaners, technicians, meter readers, etc. RE generation is expected to employ approximately 2.3 million workers^[16] by 2030. A gender-diverse workforce could lead to better work culture, lower attrition, and higher productivity.
• Construction includes general (e.g., masonry) and specialised construction activities (e.g., electrical work) in residential/ commercial buildings, and infrastructure projects. Entry-level roles on construction sites include unskilled roles (e.g., helpers, brick layers) and semi-skilled or skilled roles (e.g., masons, crane operators, electricians). The construction industry has the potential to employ approximately 95 million workers^[17] by 2030. As of 2025, only 12%^[11] of construction workers are women. A gender diverse workforce could lead to improved worker productivity and retention and expand the talent pool.

Our Insights for the Government

GLOW has developed insights to boost women’s workforce participation based on interviews with 6,600 women, engagement with 15+ companies^[18], and consultation with 15+ sector experts^[19]. Some key insights include disallowing employers from restricting job advertisements only to men, incorporating additional gender diversity metrics within Security and Exchange Board of India’s ‘Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR)’ format and improving utilization of maternity benefits available under Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) by increasing awareness and simplifying the claim process. Read more about our insights >

Download the GLOW Report