Providing a platform for women to hunt for jobs

City-based Shilpa Rao is the founder of V-Pact.com which publicises job opportunities to women within India and across the world. It’s just been a couple of months since the website went live and over 900 women – homemakers, seasoned professionals, retired professionals – have signed up and eight companies are posting jobs.

Rao says that she came up with the idea of the website after being aghast over the feeble strength of the female workforce in the country. “It is a challenge for a large number of women to take up a full time job due to familial and other commitments. V-pact.com was created with an aim to bring potential employees and women who are looking for part time employment opportunities and jobs on assignment basis or hourly basis.

Through this platform we will even explore weekend jobs for women,” says Shilpa Rao. “Women constitute approximately 50 per cent of the total adult population and 28 per cent workforce in the world. Yet, in terms of opportunities, they face several challenges particularly relating to gainful employment. Essentially, the site’s goal is to help women become economically productive members of the society,” she shares.

On the fact that several women are limited to their homes, Shilpa avers, “The city has a lot of skilled women who are confined to their homes for many reasons. I feel bad knowing that the country’s female talent is being wasted. There may be plenty of companies that would love a skilled employee, but might not be able to afford their services for only a few days – or even just a single day or a week. The trick would be to target these employers and match them with women wanting part-time employment that suited their abilities.”