Industry
The shifts in India’s frontline workforce in 2022-23, in charts
Summary
- A report by BetterPlace showed that while women’s share in the frontline workforce improved only marginally in the fiscal year 2022-23, and they earned 20.5% less than the industry average. The size of the frontline workforce declined.
India had an estimated 6.6 million frontline workers in 2022-23, down 17.5% from 2021-22 due to global macroeconomic challenges, said a new “Frontline Index 2023" report released by BetterPlace, a workforce SaaS platform.
The decrease in frontline jobs was driven primarily by the e-commerce sector. It was surpassed by logistics and mobility as the biggest employer of frontline workers in 2022-23. While e-commerce comprised 70% of the frontline workforce in 2021-22, its share was just 33% in 2022-23.
Logistics and mobility, e-commerce, and integrated facility management and information technology were the three largest frontline job creators in 2022-23. Roles such as sales and delivery staff, and helper/housekeeping and operation executive were the most sought after by frontline workers in the top three industries, according to the report.
The report highlighted a positive increment in the number of women joining the frontline workforce. Women comprised 6% of the frontline workforce, up from 3% but this was still low. The average monthly salary of women was 20.5% below the industry average, the report said.
While the logistics and mobility sector was the biggest contributor to the frontline workforce, women participation in this sector was just 2.1%. The sector also witnessed the highest drop in average salary for workers and also the highest rate of attrition.
Youth in their 20s made up the majority of frontline workers (66%), but their participation fell by 8% since 2021-22. Workers aged 30-40 accounted for 25% of the workforce, the second largest share.
While the gap between the younger and older cohorts (20-30 years) is large at the industry level, it is quite narrow when it comes to women workers. Around 44% of female workers are between the ages of 20 and 30, and 37% are between the ages of 30 and 40.
The average monthly salary for frontline workers fell by 4.5% in 2022-23, falling to ₹21,700 from ₹22,800 in 2021-22. The average salary for women frontline workers in 2022-23 was 20.5% lower than the industry average.
