Health global capability centres grapple with unhealthy gender ratio

BENGALURU: Healthcare-focused global capability centres (GCCs) continue to struggle with gender diversity. According to Teamlease data, women constitute only 28% of the workforce, matching industry standards. In R&D roles, women representation drops further to 15%.
“The gap is expected to persist due to the broader gender gap in STEM with just 27% women in the STEM workforce in India as of 2023. Women’s representation in the tech workforce is projected to grow from 28% in 2023 to 35% by 2027,” states Krishna Vij, business head of IT staffing at Teamlease Digital.

Organisations like Roche, Siemens Healthineers and Merck attribute this imbalance primarily to attrition at mid-career levels. These firms predominantly recruit experienced, middle-aged professionals due to their specific requirements, with limited entry-level positions available.
“We are into research and development of healthcare products. That makes it critical to have more experienced hands. If women did not drop out at that stage, we would have a greater number of them in our organisation,” states Raja Jamalamadaka, the MD of Roche India, where women comprise approximately 30%. A significant challenge is the limited availability of women mechanical engineers. Roche aims to achieve 35% women representation whilst doubling its workforce over the next two years.
Siemens Healthineers’ development centre in India currently maintains 30% women representation and anticipates improved gender diversity by 2028.
“It is a cultural problem we are trying to tackle here. It is going to be difficult to even 35% is going to be difficult because we need access to good talent as well,” notes Urmi Chatterjee, HR head, APJ and India for Siemens Healthineers Development Centre.
Merck’s IT centre has improved its women representation from 20% in 2018 to 36%, according to head Anuprita Bhattacharya. She observes that despite opportunities, women often hesitate to apply after career breaks.
“I have seen a lot of people having self-doubt in terms of when they are coming out from a break. That has been the social conditioning…,” she says.