Women representation in marketing & communications rise to 16%, up 2% YoY: Report

Women’s representation in job postings in India increased 19% year-on-year, according to Women in the Indian Workforce 2026, a hiring trends report released by foundit. Representation in Marketing & Communications rose from 14% to 16% year-on-year.

The analysis, based on job-posting trends between February 2025 and February 2026, indicates that employers are increasingly hiring women across seniority levels, higher salary brackets, emerging technology roles and Tier II cities.

Speaking on the report, Anupama Bhimrajka, VP - Marketing, foundit, “We are seeing encouraging momentum in how women are being hired across India. Opportunities are expanding beyond entry-level roles into senior positions, higher salary brackets, and growing talent hubs across Tier II cities. While a large share of openings still fall below Rs 10 LPA, the broader trend indicates that access to diverse and higher-value roles for women is steadily improving.”

The report found that women’s hiring is gradually increasing in higher experience brackets. The share of job postings for women with 0-3 years of experience declined slightly from 53% in 2025 to 49% in 2026, while roles requiring 4-6 years of experience also dipped from 32% to 30%. However, demand rose in more senior roles.

Postings for candidates with 7-10 years of experience increased from 11% to 14%, those with 11-15 years of experience rose from 2% to 4%, and roles requiring over 15 years of experience grew from 1% to 3%.

Functionally, women’s hiring expanded into several growth sectors. Representation in IT roles increased from 32% to 34%, while participation in Data & Analytics saw a sharper rise from 7% to 10% and Sales & Business Development roles for women increased from 15% to 16%.

In contrast, sectors where women have traditionally been concentrated saw slight declines, with Customer Service/BPO falling from 12% to 10% and Human Resources dropping from 21% to 20%.

The report also showed a gradual improvement in salary distribution. Women-preferred job postings in the Rs 0-10 LPA salary band declined from 79% in 2025 to 74% in 2026. Meanwhile, the share of postings in the Rs 11-25 LPA band increased from 11% to 16%, and roles offering Rs 25 LPA and above rose from 8% to 10%.

Startups showed a stronger presence in higher salary brackets, with 61% of postings in the Rs 0-10 LPA range, 24% in the Rs 11-25 LPA bracket and 15% in the Rs 25 LPA and above category.

Geographically, opportunities for women are expanding beyond metro cities. Tier II and Tier III locations accounted for 44% of job postings featuring women’s representation in 2026, up from 41% in 2025, while Tier I cities accounted for 56%, down from 59%. Within this, Tier II women-preferred postings grew 22% year-on-year. Cities such as Jaipur, Coimbatore, Indore and Kochi emerged among the fastest-growing hubs for women’s workforce participation.

Among major cities, Delhi/NCR remained the largest hub for women’s hiring, although its share slightly declined from 22% in February 2025 to 21% in February 2026.

Bengaluru’s share increased from 15% to 16%, while Mumbai’s share declined from 15% to 14%. Pune recorded a rise from 10% to 11%, Hyderabad increased from 9% to 10%, and Chennai grew from 8% to 9%.

The report also highlighted changes in workplace policies. In 2025, organisations pushed strongly toward return-to-office policies, with work-from-office mandates increasing by 55%. By 2026, the trend moderated, with WFO growth easing to 18%, while hybrid roles increased by 9% and remote opportunities rose by 6%.

According to the report, women’s participation in emerging technology roles also increased, rising from 26% to 31%, indicating a narrowing gap between education and employment in the technology sector.