Editorial: Wasting away

A recent survey by the International Labour Organisation showed that Indian women worked the longest hours globally. Indian women workers in information and communication jobs, which includes IT professionals and journalists, worked 56.5 hours every week in 2023, the most for any job type in India. Considering a work week of five days, that amounts to more than 11 hours of work a day, or in the case of a six-day work week, it amounts to more than 9 hours of work a day. Women working in professional, scientific and technical activities in India log in 53.2 hours a week. In comparison, a female teacher works 46 hours a week in India.

The study showed that the hours increase if only younger workers are considered. For instance, Indian women IT/media workers between 15-24 put in 57 hours every week. Indian women in professional, scientific and technical fields aged 15-24 put in 55 hours of work, the highest among all age groups. The hours spent by Indian women every week in information and communication jobs and in professional, scientific and technical jobs, respectively, is the highest such share among similar jobs globally.

The data is telling  despite women undergoing more stress at work, they do not experience a commensurate reduction in the quantum of household chores. In spite of liberal attitudes on the homefront, coupled with greater acceptance of women in the workforce, families pass the buck of domestic workload, and child/elder care responsibilities to women. For instance, women not in the labour force (mostly housewives) spent the maximum time on unpaid domestic/care work, averaging 7.5 hrs a day. Even employed women managed to cough up 5.8 hours a day on the home front.

On the other hand, unemployed men spent just about 3.5 hours per day doing household chores, while employed men contributed 2.7 hours of their time to domestic chores per day, still three hours behind the hours put in by employed women in household duties. To add insult to injury, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) annual report for July 2023 to June 2024 released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) informs us that there are significant gaps in paychecks taken home by men and women across different categories of work.

The cacophony of these metrics is offset by the human cost of being a part of the workforce of India Inc. Last month, we witnessed the tragic passing of a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant, who was employed with an international accounting behemoth in Pune. Her death, which was preceded by unrelenting seven day weeks and 14-hour-days became a wake up call even for the government which has since initiated action on EY. Last week, the Union Labour Ministry sought information from Maharashtra state officials on the death of the employee. As per reports, the company had operated since 2007 without a state permit which regulates working hours.

If this is the manner in which some of the biggest, aspirational workplaces in India treat its workforce, the conditions of those in less ‘glamorous’ offices is anyone’s guess. For managements that lament the loss of productivity and creativity owing to remote work or telecommuting, and de-prioritise employee welfare on account of bottom lines, the writing is on the wall. Increasing the labour participation of women might be a national goal, but it cannot transpire in a regressive, work-hour based, or attendance in-person centric model that we are used to.