As hiring slows and Information Technology (IT) firms only look to fill attrition of critical staff, the diversity quotient at these firms has taken a hit. Four out of five top-tier IT firms reported a decline in the share of women in their workforce in FY25. This comes at a time when the representation of women in top managerial roles in IT services is also at a bare minimum.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported a dip in female workforce share from 35.6 per cent in FY24 to 35.3 per cent in FY25. Infosys saw a similar drop, from 39.3 per cent to 39 per cent in FY25. HCL Tech’s female share slipped from 29.1 per cent to 28.8 per cent. Wipro was the only exception, reporting a slight increase from 36.6 per cent to 37.1 per cent. Cognizant, which follows calendar year accounting, had a 38 per cent female workforce share in 2024 compared to 38.8 per cent in 2023.

On an aggregate basis, these five companies reported a net addition of over 27,000 women from March 2024 to March 2025. A large part of this growth came from the increase in women employee count at Cognizant and Wipro.

Fewer at the top

“The share of women employees has stagnated due to deeply rooted structural and cultural challenges. While women account for over a third of entry-level roles, their presence drops sharply at senior levels,” said Kapil Joshi, CEO, Quess IT Staffing.

In the case of senior leadership, the proportion of women remained in single-digits at most firms. Women made up only 3.6 per cent of the top team at TCS, while Cognizant crossed the 20 per cent mark.

“Most enterprises remain committed to the popular one-third (33 per cent) figure on the share of women in the workforce. Diversity ratios, not being a reservation or a statutory mandate, are driven by the context, dynamics and discretion of employers in the tech sector,” Kamal Karanth, Co-founder, Xpheno, said. “Tech enterprises with lower gender diversity run the risk of being left behind in terms of brand desirability among talent. Lower gender diversity also impacts preference among clients & partners who have higher Diversity & prescribed DEI targets across their ecosystem,” he added.

Difference in pay

Besides the diversity quotient itself, the pay gap also looms large in IT.

At TCS, the median annual salary for women employees (excluding the Board and senior management) stood at ₹10.6 lakh compared to ₹16.7 lakh for males in FY25. Similarly, at Infosys, the median pay for women employees was ₹8 lakh, compared to ₹11 lakh for male counterparts.

Global companies

The women representation is more robust in global companies like Accenture and Capgemini. Accenture had 48 per cent women in 2024, unchanged from the previous year. Capgemini showed a slight increase from 38.8 per cent to 39.7 per cent.

“Women remain 2.1 times less likely than men to move into managerial roles…Without deliberate succession planning and accountability, board diversity will continue to lag.” Quess’ Joshi said.

Experts also said that while post-pandemic flexibility was expected to improve retention, remote work has not delivered the anticipated gains for women in tech.

Published on June 12, 2025