Report finds women form just 42% of Bhutan’s private sector workforce and earn 15.6% less than men
TIL BDE GHALLEY Thimphu
A analysis of Bhutan’s private sector workforce reveals that entrenched structural barriers continue to drive gender inequality in Bhutan’s private sector.
The study, published by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment (MoICE) in August 2025, draws on a data set of 64,864 employees and provides one of the most comprehensive examinations of gender dynamics in the country’s economy.
The analysis shows that women remain significantly underrepresented in the private sector workforce, constituting only 42.2 percent of employees, while men make up 57.8 percent.
This amounts to roughly 137 men for every 100 women. Alongside this participation gap, women face notable income disparities.
The median monthly salary for women is Nu. 15,000, compared with Nu. 16,538 for men. The difference is even starker when mean salaries are examined, with men earning Nu. 21,903 compared to Nu. 18,490 for women, a gap of 15.6 percent.
This shows that the disparities are not simply a result of unequal pay for equal work, but are primarily driven by structural segregation within the labour market.
The study highlights occupational segregation as one of the key barriers. Women are clustered in roles such as clerical support and service and sales, which account for 63.5 percent and 58.8 percent of female employment respectively.
Men, meanwhile, dominate technical and industrial fields such as craft and related trades, where they make up nearly 80 percent, and plant and machine operation, where they account for over 90 percent.
Leadership roles show a similar imbalance, with men holding a majority of managerial positions despite women making some inroads, suggesting the presence of a “glass ceiling” effect.
Sectoral segregation adds another layer of inequality. Women are heavily concentrated in accommodation and food services, where they make up 60.5 percent of employees, but this sector also offers the lowest median wage in the economy at Nu. 12,000.
By contrast, men dominate in higher-paying sectors such as electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply, which employs 78 percent men and offers a median wage of Nu. 22,905.
While sectors such as finance and education show closer gender balance, they still reveal a skew in favour of men in the higher-paying positions.
The quality of employment also reflects deep gender divides. Women are overrepresented in insecure and precarious work, particularly own-account employment, where they constitute 61.6 percent of workers.
Such jobs often lack social security, benefits, and long-term stability. Men, on the other hand, dominate regular, formal employment, holding 61.9 percent of these roles, which provide greater security, benefits, and career progression.
According to the report, “women face not only a pay gap but also a job quality and security gap.”
Education and training pathways play a decisive role in reinforcing these inequalities.
The study found that women are systematically underrepresented in high-value fields of study. Only 21 percent of graduates in engineering and technology are women, despite the sector offering a median salary of Nu. 20,000.
In contrast, women are highly concentrated in arts and commerce, where they make up more than half of graduates but face much lower median salaries of Nu. 12,000 and Nu. 12,500 respectively.
Education stands out as an exception, with 54 percent women and a median salary of Nu. 17,676, but this has not been enough to offset the broader trend.
The report notes that the gender pay gap “is not merely a function of discrimination within the same job, but is deeply rooted in the pre-labour market segregation that channels women into educational pathways leading to less valued economic activities.”
Taken together, these findings reveal what the report describes as a four-tiered structural problem.
First, women are funneled into lower-value fields of study, creating a qualifications mismatch before they even enter the job market.
Second, this leads to occupational segregation, with women concentrated in service and clerical jobs while men dominate technical and industrial trades.
Third, women are channelled into lower-paying sectors such as accommodation and food services, while men are clustered in higher-paying industries.
Finally, women are disproportionately engaged in precarious employment while men are more likely to hold stable jobs.
The report stresses that addressing these barriers requires more than policies aimed narrowly at equal pay. It calls for structural reforms that begin in the education system and extend throughout the economy.
Among its recommendations are initiatives to promote girls’ participation in STEM fields, scholarships for women in engineering, technology, and finance, and vocational training in high-growth sectors traditionally dominated by men.
It also proposes revaluing feminized sectors by introducing sector-specific minimum wages, offering productivity grants, and linking business licenses to fair wage practices.
The report further calls for the formalization of precarious employment through social protection schemes, incentives for firms to offer regular contracts, and programs to support female entrepreneurs in scaling beyond subsistence-level businesses.
It emphasizes the importance of creating gender-friendly workplaces by promoting flexible working arrangements, establishing childcare facilities at industrial hubs, and encouraging shared responsibility for unpaid care work within households.
Greater transparency is also recommended, including mandatory gender-disaggregated wage reporting and corporate governance guidelines promoting gender diversity in leadership.
In terms of immediate steps, the report suggests launching a national dialogue to revalue female-dominated sectors, piloting a skills mobility program to transition women from low-paying service roles into higher-paying industries such as logistics, fintech, and energy, and creating a certification scheme for gender-friendly workplaces.
It also recommends targeted initiatives to register female own-account workers, link them with social protection systems, and provide them with business development services.
The report concludes that “gender inequality is a structural feature of the economy, not a temporary or superficial imbalance.”
It emphasizes that the inequalities observed are systemic, beginning with education and extending across sectors and employment types.
“Women are channelled away from high-value fields of study long before they enter the job market, and subsequently into less secure, lower-valued economic activities,” it states.
