Years have passed yet one question pertaining to workplaces persists: when are women getting into workplaces? And now that women have entered, here comes the harder question: which direction are women heading towards, now that they are a part of the workforce?
Indian workplaces have made undeniable progress over the years; companies have built and continue to build stronger systems to support women through career breaks, caregiving and different stages of their professional journeys. Formal second-career programs, maternity retention measures, phase-back programs, career pathways and leadership accountability are no longer exceptions. While this progress is worth celebrating, latest data points a gap that can’t be solved with better policies alone.
The 2026 Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI) study by Avtar & Seramount revealed that women account for 36.3% of all hires, but witnesses a fall at the corporate-executive level – 19.8%. Women’s representation at the managerial level dips from 27% to 21% at the senior-manager level and 16.7% at corporate-executive level.
The message is clear: India’s next workplace challenge is not representation. It is progression. And progression, ultimately, is about influence.
The workplace has learned to retain women. Now it must learn to advance them.
There is a lot to recognize in how far organizations have come. Maternity retention among the Best Companies for Women in India stands at 94%. 78% offer phase-back programs. Formal second-career programs are now present in 71% of Best Companies, compared with just 30% in 2016. Paid paternity leave is offered by 99%, with average fully paid leave rising from seven days to 22 days over the same period.
These are significant changes because they acknowledge a reality that workplaces once struggled to accommodate: careers do not exist in isolation from life. But there is a distinction leaders need to confront: Staying is not the same as progressing.
A woman may return from a career break and remain with an organization, but still be overlooked for the assignment that puts her on the leadership track. She may have flexibility, but not visibility. She may have a development plan, but not a sponsor. She may be retained, but not promoted. That is why retention cannot be the final measure of inclusion.
And here comes the important question: Are women able to stay and grow?
The leadership gap begins before the C-suite.
When we look at the 16.7% corporate-executive representation and subsequently a lower representation at the higher levels, is not a C-suite problem (while it may sound like one), because the narrowing has already begun at the manager and senior-manager levels.
This changes where leaders need to focus their attention. If organizations wait until the C-suite to address the imbalance, they are already too late.
The leadership pipeline is shaped much earlier – through the assignments people receive, the clients they are exposed to, the revenue responsibility they are trusted with, the leaders who advocate for them and the succession conversations in which their names appear. This is why the gap between 36.3% of women among all hires and 19.8% among corporate-executive hires matters so much. It tells us that the issue is not simply who enters the organization; it is about who gets to move through it with momentum.
The systems are built. Now, it needs to be examined.
92% of the Best Companies conduct career conversations separately from performance reviews. 96% have documented development plans and manager career-discussion guides. 94% regularly review women’s advancement metrics with the executive responsible for women’s advancement. Yet the leadership pipeline continues to narrow; which should make every leadership team pause.
The question is no longer whether the organization has the right policy. It is whether the policy is producing the right outcome:
- Are women receiving critical assignments?
- Are they being actively sponsored?
- Are they being considered for succession?
- Are senior hiring processes widening or narrowing the pool?
- Are managers accountable for developing diverse leadership pipelines?
These are not HR questions alone; they are questions of business leadership. Managers, in particular, sit at a critical intersection. They influence who gets noticed, who gets developed and who gets put forward. They are not simply executing an inclusion strategy; they are shaping the leadership pipeline every day.
There is no single blueprint for progress.
The data also cautions us against looking for a universal solution. Metros continue to have an advantage in women’s representation, averaging 34.3% compared with 23.8% in non-metros. Yet Vellore stands at 58.3%, Tiruchirappalli at 53.9% and Coimbatore at 42.8%.
The same complexity appears across sectors. Professional Services leads representation at 46%, followed by ITES at 40% and GCCs at 38%. Manufacturing, at 13%, has the lowest representation – but also the lowest women’s attrition, at 9.9%.
There is no single “good” or “bad” sector, city or intervention. There are different pressure points. Leadership teams need to understand where their own pipeline breaks, and then act on that evidence.
The next decade will be defined by what happens after hiring.
The progress of the last decade matters. Overall women’s representation has risen from 25% in 2016 to around 35% in 2026. But progress creates a new responsibility. We can no longer measure success by how many women enter the workforce. We need to measure what happens next:
- Who progresses?
- Who receives visibility?
- Who gets sponsored?
- Who gets the opportunity to lead?
- Who reaches positions where their decisions influence the direction of the business?
This is the leadership test ahead. The choices organizations make today on senior hiring, sponsorship, succession and career progression will determine the leadership pool India sees several years from now. The current numbers should therefore prompt action, not complacency. For India to realise the ambition of Viksit Bharat, every organization will need to perform at its best. The next chapter of women’s advancement at work cannot simply be about getting more women through the door. It has to be about ensuring that they have the opportunity, authority and influence to shape what happens once they are inside.
To witness the Best Companies for Women in India come together to share insights on what worked for them, join us at the Best of the Best Conference & Awards on November 3rd 2026 at ITC Grand Chola, Chennai. For tickets and sponsorships, write to us at info@avtarcc.com.
