AI Talent Gap is Forcing Companies to Look at Women's Returnships in New Light

As India's artificial intelligence ambitions collide with a concerning shortage of skilled professionals, a quiet strategic shift is underway across the country's technology sector: companies are increasingly turning to experienced women on career breaks as their most viable pipeline for AI talent.

TeamLease reports that with a 53% gap in AI-ready professionals, firms are deploying structured returnship programmes to reskill mid-career women for roles in AI/ML engineering, data science, AI product management, and GenAI-led functions. What were once niche diversity initiatives are fast becoming core workforce strategies, as finding talent with the right skills remains a critical challenge.

According to a LinkedIn report, nearly three in four recruiters in India are struggling to find the right combination of AI and human skills. The hardest-to-find skills in India include software development and engineering, cited by 44% of recruiters, followed by AI skills at 34%.

However, Neeti Sharma, CEO of TeamLease Digital, argues that India's problem is not talent shortage per se, but a structural access gap. 

“A significant portion of experienced talent sits outside the workforce today: women on career breaks, ready to return. With structured returnship pathways, this cohort brings proven domain expertise, maturity, and execution discipline, making them high-impact contributors to AI and digital teams from day one," she tells AIM.

Returnships Move from Margins to Mainstream

The talent deficit cuts across multiple technology domains. India mass-produces engineers but lacks specialists who can build and deploy production-grade AI systems in domain-specific verticals.

"Our research indicates a 25–50% talent shortage across AI, cloud, and cybersecurity, with just one qualified engineer available for every 10 GenAI roles. This widening gap underscores a fundamental mismatch between supply and rapidly accelerating demand," Sharma notes.

Against this backdrop, returnship initiatives are becoming a sought-after business strategy to plug the AI talent gap. Rather than spending on expensive hiring and training, many organisations are now bent on tapping the latent talent pool of mid-career women professionals, many of whom stepped away for caregiving or personal reasons, giving them a clear route back into the workforce. 

The numbers are compelling. An average of 70% of participants in major returnship programmes move into permanent roles, according to TeamLease Digital’s returnship analysis, with some industry use cases showing conversion rates as high as 80%. Employers note that returnees often bring strong domain expertise, professional maturity, and high levels of commitment.

The returnship model itself is not new. 

Goldman Sachs pioneered the concept in 2008, creating structured pathways for professionals with extended career breaks, while JPMorgan Chase has operationalised this through a 15-week paid re-entry programme designed to transition experienced professionals back into full-time roles. 

Goldman Sachs' India Returnship programme, launched in 2013, is a 12-week paid initiative offering opportunities across a variety of divisions to strengthen technical skills and provide access to professional development. Several other multinationals have followed suit. Amazon India's Rekindle programme provides a 16-week paid internship with the possibility of a full-time offer, while Deloitte India's Encore programme offers a six-month paid internship for professionals who have been out of the workforce for at least two years.

In India, Wipro's 'Begin Again' programme has reported approximately 80% retention among returnee hires in FY24–25, with internal assessments indicating hiring costs comparable to conventional recruitment methods, reinforcing the business case for returnships as a scalable workforce strategy.

Well-structured returnship initiatives have achieved a 70% success rate in re-integrating professionals, with significant economic spillovers including workforce diversification and enhanced organisational productivity, per a Confederation of Indian Industries analysis. 

Still, returnship programmes remain nascent in India, with corporate-led efforts more predominant in urban centres like Bengaluru, Pune, Gurugram, and Hyderabad, leaving rural and semi-urban women with limited options.

Gaps Persist

Beyond returnships, broader upskilling trends point to growing female participation in technology. 

Women's share in STEM upskilling programmes has increased from 22% in 2018–19 to 33% in 2023, and women now hold 36.2% of tech jobs in India, data from Coursera shows. Also, the enrolment of women in GenAI courses surged 195% year-on-year in 2025, with 3.6 million learners adopting AI-related courses nationwide.

India's tech contractual workforce has witnessed a notable improvement over the past four years, with female participation rising from 9.51% in 2020 to 27.98% in 2024, driven by increased remote work opportunities, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and digital infrastructure growth, according to TeamLease Digital.

Yet the gains are uneven. Women's representation in senior leadership remains low, having increased only marginally from 11.43% in 2020 to 13.60% in 2024. The gender pay gap in high-demand tech roles is as high as 22.2%. 

Despite India producing nearly 43% of the world's female STEM graduates, women still represent only 14% of C-suite leadership roles, highlighting the persistent "leaky pipeline" in technology careers. 

"While we celebrate the growing presence of women in tech contractual roles, we must recognise that achieving true gender parity requires sustained efforts and a multi-faceted approach that transcends hiring more women," Sharma acknowledges. "The lack of representation in leadership positions and the persistent gender pay gap indicate the need for long-term structural change." 

The Perception Problem

Part of the challenge is cultural and perceptual. 

A Capgemini Research Institute report found that most men view critical future leadership skills, including AI and automation, innovation, agility, and data analysis, as inherently masculine, creating a significant perception gap that could further hinder career progression for women.

Sarika Naik, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer at Capgemini, warns of the consequences of inaction. "As technologies such as AI continue to disrupt the current business environment, leaders regardless of their gender must equip themselves with skills to navigate and shape the future of their function. Gender stereotypes distort perceptions of leadership skills and consequently influence career progression. If left unaddressed, bias can also lead to widening the gender gap in the workforce," she expresses.

LinkedIn's own data reveals that in 2024, the share of men with AI engineering skills is 74% higher than the share of women, with the gap varying by industry, and being particularly pronounced in education.

Globally, voices at the highest levels are pushing back. At the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions, Meirav Oren, Executive Chairwoman and Co-founder of construction tech firm Versatile, addressed the reluctance of otherwise qualified women to apply for AI roles. 

"There is a tendency to check all boxes, and that should change. If we can encourage women to not be perfect all the time, maybe we'll see more applicants, because there are very qualified candidates out there, they're just not necessarily applying for the right roles," she had said.

The Macro Imperative

The stakes extend well beyond individual companies. Two-thirds of companies operating in India see a need to tap into more diverse talent pools to fill emerging roles, far above the global average of 47%, according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025. 

Around 63% of Indian workers will require training by 2030, yet 12% are unlikely to upskill, translating into more than 70 million workers who may not gain the training they need in the next five years, reported The World Economic Forum.

Surveys from Nasscom-BCG show that approximately 90% of women in India's workforce view GenAI as critical for career advancement, yet only around 35% feel fully prepared by their employers, a gap that signals a systemic failure of corporate investment in female talent development.

The argument in favour of returnships is ultimately a business one: structured re-entry programmes present not merely a diversity imperative, but a strategic and financial opportunity to build scalable AI talent pipelines at a time when demand is accelerating faster than conventional hiring can keep pace. Organisations that invest now, Sharma argues, will be better positioned in an AI-led future, and those that don't risk being left behind.