From Boardroom To Shop Floors: More Women Entering Auto & Aviation Industry Tata Motors employs more than 3,000 women employees at its shop floors, similarly, MG Motor India has successfully integrated 37 per cent women employees in its workforce. Around 13 per cent of Vistara airlines pilots are women, today corporate companies are working towards women representation in all its fields

As part of commitment towards gender equality, corporate companies such as Tata Motors, MG Motor, PMI Electro, Vistara Airlines are extensively integrating women employees in its workforce. From the boardroom to the shop floor, women representation in these companies are growing.

At Tata Motors, today, over 3,000 women are actively engaged on shop floors bringing a variety of expertise to build a wide range of vehicles from small passenger cars to large, heavy-duty trucks. The company's premium SUVs Harrier and Safari are assembled exclusively by a dedicated all women team.

"At Tata Motors, we are consciously embracing diversity and inclusion by building a workforce where representation of women is growing in every function and across levels– from the boardroom to the shop floor. With 'Project EVE', a specially curated holistic development programme, our senior most leadership is mentoring high potential women employees working on challenging projects. The multiplicity of perspectives from different genders is sparking a new wave of creativity and innovation, enabling us to build an inspiring work culture across the organization," said Ravindra Kumar GP, CHRO, Tata Motors.

Running one of the largest fleets of electric buses in India, PMI Electro, is focused on taking steps towards women empowerment. The company introduced an 'all women EV battery plant' in 2021. PMI Electro has 35 women engineers who are involved in production of EV batteries, from managing the supply chain to battery assembling and packaging, the women employed at the manufacturing unit do it all. As an end-to-end operator of electric buses in India, PMI Electro has also developed electric bus depots to support smooth running of its fleet. Women employees form an integral part of these depots.

"The share of the women workforce is increasing rapidly in the booming EV industry in India. Companies, big or small, established or startups, are promoting ways to build equitable workplaces. Women in leadership roles bring fresh perspectives to business. In my journey at PMI, I have grown from being a young professional to now a leader, and the credit goes to a welcoming organization like PMI. I believe, with more organizations providing equal work opportunities and giving women the chance to bring change, there will no longer be women leaders but only leaders. I strongly resonate with the words of Meister Eckhart – "The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake" – and we at PMI Electro take pride in undertaking pioneering initiatives that create an equitable society," said Manvi Jain, director PMI Electro.

Significantly enhancing the employment of women in the automotive space, MG Motor India aims to set a benchmark in terms of gender-equality in its workforce. The company has included various initiatives and today its women employment stands at 37 per cent. This participation of women is not just in the office or desk jobs, but also on the shop floor which has traditionally been a male-dominated area. As a progressive brand, going forward, it aims to take the number of females in the company to 50 per cent and pave the way for a balanced workforce. MG focuses on initiatives like MG Changemakers, which is a series that aims to recognize India's women who are breaking a new ground every day and making a difference in the lives of others.

Women are also making a mark in the aviation industry. In 2021, Zoya Agarwal, an Indian commercial pilot, for the first time led an all-women pilot team of Air India and covered the world's longest air route from San Francisco (SFO) in the United States of America to Bengaluru city in India, covering the North Pole. She became the youngest woman pilot in India to fly a Boeing-777 in 2013.

The airlines are also working towards women empowerment. At Vistara, women employees form almost 42 per cent of its workforce and 13 per cent of the leadership team. As much as 13 per cent of its pilots are women.

"In line with the ethos of our parent companies, Vistara believes in providing equal opportunities to all our employees through several initiatives such as employee friendly policies, accessibility to senior leadership, clear communication, safe and growth oriented work environment for everyone. At an organizational level, we drive on values of openness and transparency, focus on performance to achieve operational excellence, encourage our employees to challenge the status quo by being innovative and agile while keeping customers at the heart of everything we do. Furthermore, we are proud that almost 13 per cent of our pilots are women, which is more than double the global average and we are constantly working towards taking this number higher. Our every step is envisioned to ensure a balanced approach to gender diversity and inclusion by embedding a gender-neutral lens across the organization," said Deepa Chadha, senior vice president - HR and corporate affairs, Vistara.