Women just 9% of FMCD workforce despite 30% hiring surge in two years

Even as India's fast-moving consumer durables (FMCD) sector has posted a 30 per cent hiring growth over the past two years, women remain starkly underrepresented, making up just 9 per cent of the workforce, said a report.

India's FMCD sector has demonstrated consistent hiring momentum, with a cumulative 30 per cent increase from May 2023 to May 2025, according to a report by CIEL HR titled 'FMCD Sector: Talent Trends and Insights'.

The report is based on quantitative analysis, drawing on data from 1,00,000 executives working in India's FMCD sector and 1,005 job postings. It also includes insights from the career sections of FMCD companies operating in India.

Despite the sector's strong growth trajectory, the report revealed a huge gender gap, with women making up only 9 per cent of the FMCD workforce, one of the lowest among major sectors.

Their representation remains especially low in manufacturing, sales, and technical roles due to long-standing structural barriers, it added.

"The FMCD sector is at a critical inflection point where diversity can drive significant competitive advantage.

"Companies that proactively address this low participation rate of women in their workforce will not only access a wider talent pool, but also benefit from diverse perspectives that fuel innovation and better consumer understanding, particularly as women influence the majority of consumer purchasing decisions," CIEL HR Services Managing Director and CEO Aditya Narayan Mishra told PTI.

Further, the report said the FMCD sector is witnessing new opportunities emerging beyond metros.

Tier-II cities now account for 22 per cent of total FMCD job postings, and this shift is driven by rising consumer interest in white goods, such as cooling appliances, inverters, and home electronics across non-metro markets, it said.

The trend signals geographic diversification of hiring and the emergence of new consumer markets beyond metro hubs, the report said.

As FMCD companies move beyond manufacturing into differentiated consumer experiences, demand is rising for industrial designers, data engineers, product managers, and customer success specialists, it added.

Meanwhile, the report shows that 14 per cent of executives in the FMCD sector have changed jobs in the last one year, on par with the trend observed in the IT and ITeS sector and higher than that of BFSI, retail and manufacturing, indicating a highly competitive and dynamic talent market.

Talent tends to move between FMCD employers rather than from adjacent sectors, highlighting the value placed on industry-specific experience and domain familiarity, it stated.

The majority of hiring is concentrated at the junior to mid-level positions, likely for operational, sales, and support roles typical of the FMCD sector, it noted.

Senior positions see fewer postings and are often filled through internal movements or niche hiring, the report added.