Apna.co, the Indian professional networking and jobs platform, has witnessed a 40 per cent growth in women users in the second quarter of 2021. This is because there has been a rise in the number of part-time or work-from home jobs, which women find attractive. About 17 per cent more women have landed jobs as tele-callers, while 13 per cent more have bagged part-time jobs as sales personnel. About 12 per cent more have got employment in the area of accounts and 10 per cent more as teachers. Not surprisingly, there are more takers for part-time jobs than full time, with 10 per cent more women seeking the former.
Encouraged by the increasing number of women users, the platform aims to now double women’s participation by the end of the year and do its bit to accelerate the growth of the country. Over 18 lakh jobs are already available on the platform in 70+ categories across India.
The factors that have encouraged women to join the gig workforce are: convenience, flexibility, better pay per unit and better efficiencies.
The platform witnessed about two and a half lakh women applying for jobs at Teamlease, Shadowfax, Byju’s and other leading companies. The number of users of the app has multiplied mainly because it is user friendly and multilingual. Also, it has features dedicated to remote work and part-time work options, which have helped women connect to the right employers, according to the suitability of their skills, and land jobs in about 48 hours.
Nirmit Parikh, CEO and founder, apna, said, “In the first year of the pandemic starting March 2020, nearly 20 lakh metropolitan women reverse migrated to their hometowns. Backed by superior technology, apna aims to be the catalyst in connecting them with increasing opportunities including flexible work arrangements.”
The objective of the startup is to boost employment for women in India. The apna app is aimed at helping women achieve “a digital professional identity” and facilitating their continued upskilling.
Born in 2019, the app is currently live in 15 cities — Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Ranchi, Kolkata, Surat, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ludhiana, and Chandigarh.
