Continental India Mulls To Create Gender Parity, Launches Women Skill Dev Initiative

Ties-up with Centum Foundation for skill development to add more women to the skilled workforce in the manufacturing industry.

Continental India has come up with a skill development strategy for women in alliance with the Centum Foundation to increase the participation of women in manufacturing industries by running various skill development programmes in the country.

The tyre major has launched the initiative - The STEP Ahead - under its CSR programme. The release from Continental India states that initially in the first year, the plan is to target three women groups including high school girls, ITI students and unemployed women from underprivileged sections of the society.

The training will help in bringing transformative changes in advancing women in science, technology, production, and engineering fields.

At first, the program will be limited to only Gurugram and Bengaluru which will be later extended to other parts of the country.

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Detailing on the reasons for the low participation of women in manufacturing, the release states that manufacturing wasn’t considered suitable for them, there was a lack of awareness and limited access to skill development programmes among others.

The leading global tyre maker says the idea is to nurture skills by giving them access to tailor-made curriculum, leadership development programmes, certification and other skill development techniques.  

Moreover, the initiative will work in tandem with industry needs and will not only train these women but also help them get job in respective industries.

There will be sync between colleges/institutions and various government and non-government organisations for placement of the skilled workforce.

As per Prashanth Doreswamy, Head of Continental India, and Managing Director Continental Automotive India, “manufacturing continues to be a high-growth sector in India, and we need to build the right resource pool to match such an ambitious intent.”

In a bid to work towards gender-parity in industries, Continental India looks to focus on untapped women talent to bridge the gender gap.

A leading skill development player, Centum Foundation will be executing the multi-year programme that will eventually build a sustainable model of empowerment, guidance, skill development, and placement support.

Rainer Hetzer, Head of human relations autonomous mobility and safety, and HR sponsor for Continental India said that focused measures and topics including learning initiatives, sensitising programmes, mentoring, leadership development programmes, and equal pay are in place for women across different levels.” 

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At a time when the job market has shrunk, there is a need for a skilled workforce and manufacturing is a sector where there are considerably fewer skilled workers. Having trained people will not only increase the efficiency of such companies but also provide a livelihood to these women.

Source: PTI