India’s fast-moving consumer durables (FMCD) sector has seen steady hiring momentum, recording a 30% increase between May 2023 and May 2025, according to a report released on Sunday by staffing firm CIEL HR.
But alongside the growth, the report highlights a stark gender imbalance with women accounting for only 9% of the FMCD workforce, among the lowest across major industries.
Representation is particularly poor in manufacturing, sales and technical functions, where long-standing structural barriers have kept women out.
“The FMCD sector is at a critical inflection point where diversity can drive significant competitive advantage,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director of CIEL HR Services. He added that companies that improve gender participation stand to benefit not only from a larger talent pool but also from “diverse perspectives that fuel innovation and better consumer understanding, particularly as women influence the majority of consumer purchasing decisions”.
The report also notes a geographic shift in hiring, with tier-2 cities accounting for 22% of total FMCD job postings. Rising demand for white goods such as cooling appliances, inverters and home electronics in smaller markets is driving this diversification.
Beyond geography, the sector is also seeing demand for new-age roles as companies move from pure manufacturing to consumer-focused experiences. Industrial designers, data engineers, product managers and customer success specialists are increasingly in demand, helping firms build smarter and more sustainable products.
The report found that 14% of FMCD executives switched jobs over the past year, a churn rate on par with IT and ITeS and higher than BFSI, retail and manufacturing. Movement was largely within the sector itself, reflecting the premium placed on domain expertise. Hiring, meanwhile, continues to be concentrated at the entry and mid-level, with the Rs 6-10 lakh salary bracket accounting for the largest share of postings.
Major recruiters in the sector include Havells, Voltas, Blue Star, Whirlpool, Orient Electric, CG Power, Panasonic and Luminous, according to the report.
CIEL HR’s findings are based on data from 100,000 executives employed in the FMCD sector and 1,005 job postings, supplemented with insights from company career pages.
But alongside the growth, the report highlights a stark gender imbalance with women accounting for only 9% of the FMCD workforce, among the lowest across major industries.
Representation is particularly poor in manufacturing, sales and technical functions, where long-standing structural barriers have kept women out.
“The FMCD sector is at a critical inflection point where diversity can drive significant competitive advantage,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director of CIEL HR Services. He added that companies that improve gender participation stand to benefit not only from a larger talent pool but also from “diverse perspectives that fuel innovation and better consumer understanding, particularly as women influence the majority of consumer purchasing decisions”.
The report also notes a geographic shift in hiring, with tier-2 cities accounting for 22% of total FMCD job postings. Rising demand for white goods such as cooling appliances, inverters and home electronics in smaller markets is driving this diversification.
Beyond geography, the sector is also seeing demand for new-age roles as companies move from pure manufacturing to consumer-focused experiences. Industrial designers, data engineers, product managers and customer success specialists are increasingly in demand, helping firms build smarter and more sustainable products.
The report found that 14% of FMCD executives switched jobs over the past year, a churn rate on par with IT and ITeS and higher than BFSI, retail and manufacturing. Movement was largely within the sector itself, reflecting the premium placed on domain expertise. Hiring, meanwhile, continues to be concentrated at the entry and mid-level, with the Rs 6-10 lakh salary bracket accounting for the largest share of postings.
Major recruiters in the sector include Havells, Voltas, Blue Star, Whirlpool, Orient Electric, CG Power, Panasonic and Luminous, according to the report.
CIEL HR’s findings are based on data from 100,000 executives employed in the FMCD sector and 1,005 job postings, supplemented with insights from company career pages.
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