Best practices for last-mile delivery companies to improve gender equity

Last-mile delivery companies can pilot 18 interventions in a phased manner, to improve gender diversity in delivery agent (DA) roles

Context

Hiring women in DA roles has following benefits for last-mile delivery companies:

Last-mile delivery companies are unable to increase women in DA roles because of company and ecosystem-level challenges:

Job portals have a limited pool of women
Families do not give women permission for this role (e.g., due to safety concerns, nature of job)
Families do not invest in assets (e.g., 2-wheelers, smartphones) for women
Women are not taught how to ride 2-wheelers

Last-mile delivery companies can follow a 3-phased approach to make their operations more gender equitable:

Build the organization’s capability to target and convince women: Set up inclusive hiring policies, gender-equitable sourcing channels, and onboarding processes to support hiring of women delivery agents
Strengthen support networks for women: Establish women-friendly employment models, incentivize community mobilizers, and provide mobility solutions to deepen support for women delivery agents and improve retention
Embed and scale: Expand outreach and infrastructure with targeted incentives and safety mechanisms to sustainably hire and retain women at scale

Key takeaways

Hiring women in DA roles has following benefits for last-mile delivery companies:
Last-mile delivery companies are unable to increase women in DA roles because of company and ecosystem-level challenges:
Last-mile delivery companies can follow a 3-phased approach to make their operations more gender equitable: