COVID effect: Confidence levels of working women, young professionals lowest amongst workforce

New Delhi: The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic’s second wave has left young Indian professionals and working women increasingly vulnerable to the economic uncertainty, says a survey.

According to LinkedIn”s latest Workforce Confidence Index, the plight of India”s working women has worsened after the second COVID-19 wave, as the individual confidence index (ICI) scores of female professionals fell from 57 in March to 49 in early June — a 4x decline compared to working men (58 in March to 56 in June).

Further, the pandemic’s recent peak in India has amplified the importance of work experience and professional connections, as young Indians were found twice as worried as their older cohorts, about the impact of COVID-19 on their careers.

Nearly 30 per cent of Gen Z professionals and 26 per cent of millennials are troubled due to lack of jobs, in comparison to 18 per cent of Baby Boomers, the survey based on responses of 1,891 professionals from May 8 to June 4 noted.

Gen Z refers to those born between 1997 and 2015, Millennials are those born between 1981 and 1994/6 and Baby Boomers are born between 1946 and 1964.

“As India slowly begins to come out of the second wave of COVID-19 cases, we see the year-over-year hiring rate recover from a low of 10 per cent in April to 35 per cent at the end of May. Despite this modest revival, confidence levels of working women and young professionals are amongst the lowest in the workforce today,” said Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager, LinkedIn.

Gupta further said that “twice as many working women are concerned with job availability compared to working men, and 30 per cent of Gen Z professionals worry due to lack of jobs. Remote jobs can be the ray of hope, to provide the much-needed flexibility and growth in opportunities to help them bounce back into the workforce.”

The survey further said, India”s overall workforce confidence has declined after peaking in early March, with a composite score of 54 (down 4 points from 58 in March).

This decline in confidence is reflected strongly across professionals from creative industries such as entertainment, design, and media and communications, who expressed being uncertain about the future of their employers.

“But as several parts of the economy gradually reopen, professionals from software andIT and hardware and networking are growing increasingly confident about the future of their organisations,” the survey said.

As per LinkedIn Labour Market Update, LinkedIn platform data suggests that the average time for fresh graduates to find a new job has also increased by 43 per cent in 2020 compared to pre COVID-19 times in 2019.

“But while the conversion time has increased, so have remote opportunities, as LinkedIn platform data further suggests that the proportion of entry level jobs labelled as ‘remote’ posted between Jan-March 2020 have increased by 9x between 2020 and 2021,” it said.