Nearly Half of Jobseekers Say Gender Pay Gap in India Is Over 20%: Survey

A new survey by Naukri.com has found that nearly 45% of jobseekers in India believe the gender pay gap is over 20%. The top reasons cited were maternity-related career breaks and bias in the workplace.

The survey, which covered 80 industries, showed that 51% of professionals think career breaks due to maternity are the main reason women are paid less than men. About 27% blamed bias, saying women are still judged differently at work compared to men.

This belief was strongest in industries like IT (56%), pharma (55%), and automobiles (53%).

People with 5–10 years and 10–15 years of experience were most likely to feel the impact of career breaks, with over 50% in both groups highlighting it as a key issue.

Industries and Cities with the Biggest Pay Gap Perception:

• 
  

  IT was seen as the sector with the widest pay gap, especially in tech hubs like Hyderabad (59%) and Bengaluru (58%).

  
  


• 
  

  Other sectors like aviation (57%) and education (52%) were also seen as having large pay gaps.

  
  


• 
  

  In contrast, industries like real estate (21%), FMCG (18%), and banking (12%) had lower concerns.

  
  


• 
  

  Traditional fields like Oil & Gas and Retail had a more positive outlook.

  
  

What Can Help Fix It?

Professionals said the best way to fix the gender pay gap is through performance-based promotions. They also supported:

• 
  

  Bias-free and transparent hiring (27%)

  
  


• 
  

  Clear and open salary policies (21%)

  
  

These ideas were especially popular in cities like Noida and Gurgaon, where many called for more transparency in pay practices.

The survey shows that even as the workforce becomes more aware, gender pay differences remain a big concern, especially in fast-growing industries like IT.