We often describe manufacturing as a male-dominated industry, where hard helmets and grease-stained clothes are the norm. But the story evolves as do the times. In the industry, more and more women are defying expectations and making their mark. Industrial companies in India are breaking stereotypes and opening new career opportunities for working women: jobs in the factory. In this article, we look at the key role of women in the manufacturing sector.
In recent decades, an increasing number of women in India have left their traditional role as housewives to join the workforce. Graduates apply to accounting, banking and information technology companies, and some seek opportunities in the manufacturing industry. Women have been subtly undermining the concept that manufacturing is a domain reserved for men for decades. Women are now succeeding in a variety of manufacturing positions, including engineering, operations, quality control, and supply chain management. They bring new ideas, problem-solving abilities, and attention to detail that help manufacturing companies expand and succeed
Factory floors need workers who have the capability to operate heavy machinery which requires a lot of physical effort. However, today factories are becoming highly mechanized, by implementing robots, cranes as well as elevators in order to do the heavy lifting jobs. Workers operate these machines with joysticks which need precision instead of strength, helping firms to employ a workforce that is more versatile.
"It's much easier today to bring in this equality compared to 20 years back," said V.G. Sakthikumar, managing director at Schwing Stetter India, which makes construction equipment. “The pandemic has sped up the mechanization process in many factories,” Sakthikumar added.
The women who have worked in the Daimler factory until now work among other things, in the building of engines and transmissions and in quality control, and also in the paint shop. Another benefit of hiring women is that the overall talent pool expands.
Due to long-standing social and cultural mindsets, finding women willing to work in factories continues to be a challenge, especially in small towns and rural India, where women traditionally stay at home.
"The toughest job in the country is to source talent," said Guruprasad Srinivasan, chief operating officer for India at staffing firm Quess Corp. in Bengaluru.
In the past decade, Srinivasan said, there has been more demand for women to work on assembly lines at electronics companies, especially those that make handsets and semiconductors. Women are considered to have superior motor skills and dexterity, and some companies want as much as 70 percent of their assembly line staff to be women, he said.
The manufacturing industry has seen a high increase in the valuable contributions of women in various positions, and this trend is justified. Be it machinery, quality control and assurance, or supply chain management, women play a key role at all levels. It should be noted that several companies have successfully created a strong and gender-diverse workforce, with women making up 70 to 100 percent of the workforce.
Tata Motors, for example, currently employs more than 3,000 women in its shops and plans to further increase the number of women in its factory workforce. Similarly, MG Motor India aims to achieve a gender-balanced workforce, with women making up 50 percent of its total workforce, including manufacturing roles, by December 2023. This demonstrates the potential to create an inclusive environment that empowers women to excel in manufacturing.
The contributions of women to organizations go beyond promoting diversity. They bring unique ideas, backgrounds and perspectives, promoting innovative differentiation in manufacturing. As a significant talent pool in India, women have exceptionally good leadership, strategic and crisis management skills.
As India becomes a major manufacturing hub, it is imperative to develop a comprehensive plan that provides a solid framework to achieve meaningful gender representation in stores. Over the past five years, significant progress has been made in promoting gender diversity in the industry. As organizations increasingly embrace diversity and inclusion, it is important to prioritize the representation and empowerment of women in the industry. With the ever-increasing participation of women in mechanical engineering, it is clear that they play an important and necessary role in various manufacturing industries. Without a doubt, companies are working to bring more women into the manufacturing sector.
In the manufacturing sector, women are defying expectations and making their mark, adding diversity, creativity, and new viewpoints to the business. Recruitment firms function as change agents, actively attempting to remove obstacles and give women in manufacturing equitable chances. As long as we continue to dispel stereotypes and advance gender equality, the manufacturing sector will become more robust and inclusive, which will be to everyone's advantage. Let's honor the women who are dispelling myths and creating a more promising future for themselves in the manufacturing industry.
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