Updated on Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 00:00 IST

Bangalore, Nov 19: The number of women employed in the country's IT and business process outsourcing is growing rapidly, accounting for 28 percent of the total two million in 2007-08.

Stating this here, industry body Nasscom President (National Association of Software and Service Companies) Som Mittal said, the number of women in the industry accounted for 24 percent in 2005-06.

Significantly, at the entry-level, women accounted for 47 percent of the total recruitment in 2007-08, up from 38 per cent in 2005-06, he said here on the sidelines of NASSCOM's IT Women Leadership summit 2008.

A survey of 50 companies revealed women accounted for 11 percent of the leadership roles in senior management.

"Women are a key and vital part of our (the industry's) workforce, and the industry will continue to work towards creating a conducive environment and attract more women employees and leaders", he told the two-day conference.

NASSCOM also announced the winners of Gender Inclusivity Awards, which honours companies in the IT-BPO industry that have implemented outstanding practices that promote gender empowerment and women leadership development.

NASSCOM Corporate Award for Excellence in Gender Inclusivity in the IT Service & Product Companies category went to Infosys Technologies while in IBM Daksh bagged the award in the BPO companies category.

The most innovative project in gender inclusivity category went to IBM India Pvt Ltd and the best emerging company award was jointly bagged by Ajuba Solutions India Pvt Limited and ADP Private Limited.

Bureau Report