Raiders of the Male Ark: Women invade virtually every role in India Inc

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Almost a quarter into the 21st century, India Inc has employed women in virtually every role that was earlier thought to be the exclusive preserve for males. In September 2023, the country’s oldest private-sector steel plant Tata Steel created a history of sorts by employing women as firefighters. By appointing 23 women for the extremely challenging job, the company demolished an invisible barrier in the country’s business landscape.

But the Tatas are not the only group to put women in charge of physically demanding jobs that have been traditionally dominated only by men. Several heavy engineering companies in India are deploying women workers for work in oil rigs and mines, steel plants and shop floors. By demolishing gender-based stereotyping of job roles, these examples are also preparing women of tomorrow for jobs that require nerves and muscles of steel.

“We have also initiated three-shift deployment of women workforce at Tata Steel Kalinganagar (TSK), West Bokaro (powerhouse and washery). A special drive was undertaken to onboard women in operation and maintenance roles at TSK and Tata Steel Meramandali (about 220 women). At West Bokaro, women were onboarded as heavy earth moving machinery (HEMM) operators and, basis their performance, another batch of 37 women has been onboarded who are currently undergoing training,” Jaya Singh Panda, chief diversity officer of Tata Steel told The Economic Times.

Hindustan Zinc, a part of Vedanta group, is another pioneer. This company has, on its roster right now, as many as 132 women executives in managerial functions in core mining operations. They handle responsibilities in domains such as drilling, blasting, explosive magazines and production drilling – all roles that were considered inconceivable for the fairer sex even a few years ago.

Jaya Singh Panda of Tata Steel has told the newspaper that their measure will benefit people in mainstream marginalised communities.

Women are also venturing into the physically challenging work of moving underground to take up responsibilities such as shift foreman, shift engineer and mine planning. And the presence of women in such roles is going up fast. While women made up only 5.7% of the mining workers in Hindustan Zinc in 2019-20, it rose to 13.3% in 2023-24.

Maintenance work in mines seem to be the next frontier that would be raided. Priya Agarwal Hebbar, chairperson, Hindustan Zinc, and non-executive director, Vedanta told the newspaper, “We target to increase gender diversity in the coming year by hiring women in mining functions and related maintenance and enabling functions. Gender parity at the workplace brings in larger benefits to the organisation by bringing diverse perspectives, promoting innovation, agile working and better employee engagement.”

Consider the daredevils of ONGC. This PSU has enlisted the service of women in deep-sea exploration job roles. “This was typically male-dominated and those working have to spend at least 14 days in offshore operations. We have introduced targeted initiatives which include the development of custom-designed dungarees by the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, heightened safety measures through closed-circuit television (CCTV) installations and have dedicated boarding facilities for women in offshore operations,” an ONGC spokesperson said.

Engineering giant L&T is not to be left behind. It has got women working as quality control inspectors and maintenance engineers on the shop floor.

“In our process plant turnaround service business, all engineering leads (process, electrical, instrumentation and controls, civil) and head of welding technologies are women engineers,” Anil Parab, director and member, L&T board, heavy engineering and valves, told the newspaper.

While prominent corporates such as these are making pioneering work, a lot needs to change in the country’s business landscape to accommodate more and more women. These encompass the areas of making changes to working hours and improving site conditions. “One of the reasons why women lagged in heavy engineering functions is due to the perception (and reality) that such roles are not safe for women,” said Saundarya Rajesh, founder-president of diversity, equity, and inclusion solutions company Avtar group. The increasing use of technology is decreasing the need to employ muscle to do the “heavy lifting”.