Key Details
The ILO report, Women in Business and Management: Scaling Success, combines enterprise surveys from 2013, 2018 and 2025 with labour-market data and company case studies. Its 2025 survey received responses from 11,957 enterprises across 99 countries, including 768 in India.
Reported business benefits rose: 68.5% of surveyed enterprises said initiatives promoting gender equality and women in management improved business outcomes, up from 57.4% in 2018.
Profit gains were reported by a subset: Among enterprises reporting improved outcomes, 41.6% cited increased profitability. Of those reporting higher profits, 87.4% said the gain was at least 5%.
Putting measures into practice became less common: Averaged across the types of gender-equality initiatives examined, the share of enterprises reporting implementation fell from 37.4% in 2018 to 26.5% in 2025.
Leadership remains unequal: Women held 30.5% of managerial positions globally. In the enterprise survey, 28.2% of firms with a CEO had a woman CEO in 2025, up from 23.4% in 2013.
Reported Gains Are Not Matched by Sustained Action
Enterprises increasingly associate gender-equality initiatives with better retention, innovation, reputation and profitability. Firms with women CEOs or board chairs were also more likely to report improved outcomes. These are reported results and associations, not evidence that a particular initiative caused a specified profit increase.
The ILO finds a more consequential divide between having a policy and carrying it out. While 74.8% of surveyed enterprises reported an equal-opportunity or diversity policy in 2025, implementation fell across most of the specific measures the report tracks. Recruitment and promotion initiatives, leadership development, mentoring, flexible work and equal-pay initiatives all recorded declines from 2018.
A Weaker Middle-Management Pipeline Threatens Leadership Progress
The rise in women CEOs does not mean opportunities have improved evenly throughout organisations. Between 2013 and 2025, gender balance increased in senior and top management but declined in junior and middle managementamong surveyed enterprises. Women were also less represented in roles with operational or profit-and-loss responsibility—experience that often precedes executive leadership. Without progression through these positions, gains at the top may be difficult to sustain.
India Is in the Survey, but the Evidence Has Different Scopes
India’s 768 enterprise respondents contributed to the 2025 survey’s international findings. Separately, the report’s ILOSTAT chart shows that women remain underrepresented in management in India. The chart is based on labour-market data, not on the 768 firms’ survey responses; the global business-benefit figures should likewise not be presented as India-specific percentages.
The report’s Havas India case study illustrates one response to a retention problem. Women’s share of its workforce rose from 19% in 2020 to 43% in 2025, and women held half its leadership positions in 2025. After identifying departures following maternity leave, the company introduced a six-month flexible return-to-work programme. Of 41 employees who took maternity leave during 2022–25, 71% remained for at least a year after returning. The case shows what one employer did, not the effect that other Indian firms should expect to replicate.
Policy Relevance
For Indian employers, the report directs attention to where women’s careers stall, not just how many women are hired or appointed to boards. Retention after caregiving breaks, promotion through middle management and access to operational roles all affect the pool of future leaders.
The decline in reported implementation also makes measurement important. Employers and industry bodies can distinguish a written commitment from progress by tracking retention, promotion, pay and representation at successive management levels. The ILO’s findings make a case for examining these practices; they do not establish an India-wide return on investing in them.
Follow the Full Report Here: Women in Business and Management: Scaling Success