A diversified conglomerate is placing a significant wager on hiring women as the bulk of the labor throughout its factories because of their regularity, dexterity, and discipline, which boost productivity. Between 50% and 75% of the overall staff at some of ITC’s new integrated consumer products manufacturing and logistics facilities (ICMLs), which include cutting-edge operations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, are women.
For instance, the food processing facility owned by ITC in Medak, Telangana, employs almost exclusively women. Almost 1,500 women (nearly 75% of the entire staff) work at one of its main FMCG facilities in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, while about 50% of the workforce at the factory in Mysuru is made up of women. It would also try to hire a majority of women workers for its new factory in Khordha, Odisha.
While there may be some difficulties in hiring women in factories, primarily due to safety concerns and a lack of necessary skills, the company has been actively working with all stakeholders to resolve these issues in addition to creating an environment that will encourage more women to work in blue-collar jobs.
The more recent ITC divisions, known as ICMLs, produce a variety of goods, including Aashirvaad atta, vermicelli, Sunfeast biscuits, cakes, B Natural juices, Bingo! snacks, YiPPee! noodles, dairy products, and personal care items. Apart from this, ITC’s other companies have access to around 13 owned factories.
As it focuses on increasing women’s participation at all levels of the organization, from recruiting to leadership positions, the corporation has recognized diversity and inclusion (D&I) as a critical target area. Numerous policies have been implemented, including the hybrid work model, more flexibility in work schedules for young and expectant mothers, extended maternity and paternity leaves, travel assistance for caregivers and infants when female employees travel for work, paternity leave, and an expansion of medical benefits for partners of the same.
Those between the ages of 18 and 31 should apply for blue-collar jobs the most.
Data from Work India, India’s largest blue-collar recruiting site, shows that key metropolitan areas like Mumbai and Delhi have 4.15 percent and 0.49 percent of the country’s applicants between the ages of 18 and 40 seeking blue-collar jobs, respectively. Pune, Bangalore, and Kolkata are in third, fourth, and fifth position, respectively, in terms of job applications, with records of 0.40 percent, 0.33 percent, and 0.24 percent.
The information spans the months of January 2022 until the middle of October 2022. Mohali, a Tier II city, has no records of receiving employment applications, but Nasik is just ahead by 0.02 percent. In Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, the biggest state in India, only 0.37 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 30 had applied for work. More than 10,000 persons in the 18 to 50 age range have been hired as internet marketers this year in cities like Patna.
On the other hand, a city like Ahmedabad has consistently maintained an annual average of job seekers in the 18–30 age range (0.47–0.49%). The biggest numbers of job seekers in Mumbai this year were between the ages of 41 and 50 in June (11.90per cent). The report also shows that more than 97% of those between the ages of 18 and 30 who are seeking work do so in Amreli, followed by 100% in Bagalkot, Ariyalur, and Banka, demonstrating that these localities have higher unemployment rates.
Cities like Dehradun, Varanasi, and Kanpur have the fewest job applications in the 18 to 30 age range, with rates as low as 0.00 to 0.02 percent. The real estate industry, compared to all other industries, has the most job applicants, with 62.30 percent of them being between the ages of 18 and 31.
The two cities with the highest hiring rates are Pune and Bangalore, whereas Silchar, Agartala, and Mandya saw no hiring at all (0.00%) throughout the year. In Chennai, one of the major metropolises, 0.10 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 30 had submitted employment applications so far this year. All age categories, including those from Tier III cities Mandi, Nalgonda, and Pithoragarh, have had zero job seekers. In towns like Jabalpur, other job categories like cleaning and internet marketing have shown continuous development, with current statistics of 0.192 and 0.483 for all workers between the ages of 18 and 31.
Nilesh Dungarwal, co-founder and chief operating officer of WorkIndia, commented on the data, saying, “We at WorkIndia are striving to bridge the gap between employment openings and job seekers with suitable skill sets. We have worked tirelessly to ensure that blue- and grey-collar workers across the nation have meaningful jobs. It is vital to note that hiring has greatly grown in the blue-collar sector. We would continue to provide employment opportunities for all job seekers around the country.
The Confederation of Indian Industry claims that India is a nation to be reckoned with because of its enormous 900 million working people (67%), which is expected to grow by at least 100 million by 2030 despite a dropping birth rate. This applies to both white- and blue-collar positions.
Edited by Prakriti Arora
