Placement of women in contractual or flexible roles in the IT and IT-enabled services sector has reached 40 per cent in FY26, reflecting the growing adoption of the workforce model, a report said on Saturday.

Women's placements increased by 10 percentage points from FY22 to FY26, reaching 40 per cent in FY26, said talent solutions provider Careernet's report - Women in IT/ITeS: Trends in Contractual/Flexi Roles.

The preferred roles tilt toward finance and accounting (43 per cent), followed by data science and analytics (34 per cent), UX, design and architecture (31 per cent), IT and information security (29 per cent) and engineering - software and QA (27 per cent), it said.

Consulting (20 per cent) continues to lag, pointing to areas that have greater headroom for inclusion, added the report.

Careernet's report is based on an annual sample of 3,000 placements in contractual positions in FY26 and was compared with data from the last four fiscal years.

With respect to preference for geographical locations, the report found that the talent pool remains concentrated in metro hubs, with Bengaluru (21 per cent), Hyderabad (20 per cent), and Pune (17 per cent) together driving the bulk of participation.

Delhi NCR (13 per cent) and Chennai (9 per cent) follow, while Mumbai (7 per cent) and Kolkata (2 per cent) contribute smaller shares, said the report.

Tier II cities account for 11 per cent of women's participation, highlighting a continued concentration in established tech corridors, it said.

In terms of career span, the report said that women's participation is strongest in early to mid-career stages, led by professionals with 5-8 years of experience (31 per cent), followed closely by those with less than 2 years (30 per cent) - together accounting for a significant share of the active talent pool.

However, participation declined at senior levels, with 9-14 years (13 per cent) and over 14 years (4 per cent), indicating gaps in retention and advancement, it added.

"Over the past five years, women's participation in IT/ITeS has evolved beyond just numbers to the kinds of roles they are choosing. Finance and accounting leads the mix, signalling that this is no longer a peripheral participation story. Women are increasingly gravitating toward functions that sit at the core of business outcomes," Careernet Chief Business Officer Neelabh Shukla said.

Published on April 12, 2026