 "Tata Steel")
The official admitted that the initial planning stage was challenging due to inadequate knowledge about the transgender community | Photo: Bloomberg
Within the next several years, Tata Steel hopes to have at least 25% of its workforce comprised of various groups, such as LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, marginalised communities, and gender minorities, according to a corporate official.
According to the official, it is among the first organisations in the nation to launch a dedicated recruitment campaign for transgender people, having hired over 100 members of the community for a variety of positions spread across multiple locations.
“Continuing this drive, we aim to have 25 per cent of our workforce from diverse groups in the next couple of years,” added the official.
In all, 113 transgender people have been hired and assigned to a variety of departments, including services, operations and maintenance, mining, and manufacturing. Noamundi, West Bokaro, Kolkata, Kharagpur, Kalinganagar, and Jamshedpur are the locations of these workers.
Some of these workers use Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) at the West Singhbhum and Ramgarh district’s West Bokaro coal mine and the Noamundi iron ore mine in Jharkhand, working all three shifts.
“Tata Steel appreciates the potential of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) and has a tremendous organisational focus on it,” added the official.
“In line with this, we renewed our commitment and refocused our approach to DE&I in 2015 by setting up MOSAIC – a platform for pioneering initiatives, diversity targets, and employee-friendly policies conceptualised and executed from the apex level,” he stated.
The official acknowledged that their lack of experience with the transgender population made the early planning phase difficult.
But we created a thorough plan and carried it out without any problems. Since the first group of transgender people was hired in 2019 after receiving the necessary training, we have not yet had any complaints from either side of the workforce,” the official stated.
He added transgender people are more productive in several sectors than the average worker, based on the productivity of these employees.
“We believe in nurturing a workplace where every person, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, feels valued, respected, and empowered,” Tata Steel Chief Diversity Officer Jaya Singh Panda stated. One of our biggest assets is diversity, and maintaining this approach is essential to both creativity and long-term success.”
At the company’s Jamshedpur factory, a transgender employee spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying, “We feel very safe inside the company because coworkers are friendly, supportive, and cooperative.” Additionally, the business has built infrastructure, such as special restrooms for us.”
Another transgender worker at Noamundi bemoaned the fact that her parents used to not give a damn if she ate or got home on time.
Upon discovering my employment at Tata Steel, my dad was not convinced by my story. He arrived and remained at my house till I joined. He has called me daily to see how I’m doing ever since,” the employee stated.
A transgender man who works for the company in Jamshedpur claimed that he never would have thought he could support his family and assist with his sister’s marriage.
Another transgender worker in Jamshedpur conveyed her appreciation for the company’s accommodations.
Another group member said, “I’m happy that my society has accepted me as an individual.”
(The Business Standard staff may have edited this report’s headline and picture; the remaining content is automatically produced from a syndicated feed.)