Women’s Day 2022: In An Orbit Shift, All Women-Team to Manage Wipro GE Health’s New Facility

Bengaluru: Women’s Day is all about celebrating the achievements of women, and providing them opportunities that can empower them to march through. As the idea of International Women’s Day is gaining significant momentum, it’s important to build workplaces that are women-friendly, and where women can thrive professionally. Taking a step in this direction, Wipro GE Healthcare on Monday announced that its upcoming facility in Bengaluru will be an all-women team. The decision gains significance as manufacturing has traditionally been a male-dominated industry and fewer than one third of manufacturing employees are women.

The initial idea is to employ 33 women and the number will be increased to 100 when the production expands, Economic Times reported. The report further said that the plant will begin rolling out products from April and have three-hour work shifts on all days.

”This is a unique feat of GE in India and we believe it is the right step in bridging the gender gap of our region,” said Mahesh Kapri, managing director; GE BEL and general manager, ISC, South Asia. ”For us in GE, valuing diversity and treating everyone with respect is the foundation, he added.

Notably, GE Healthcare employs about 2000 people across its manufacturing sites, of which 12% are women.  ”With the new site coming on board, the share of women employees in manufacturing will go up by 18 %”, Kapri said further. The around Rs 100-crore unit, will manufacture machines for CT-scans, cath labs, and ultra-sonography, besides ventilators and patient monitors.

According to studies, only 12 percent of the manufacturing sector’s workforce constitutes women, and it’s high time that women’s participation in economic discussions and manufacturing industries are valued and encouraged.

India. Com View: It’s 2022 and a crucial time to rethink the role of women in the workforce. Largely male-dominated, women-participation in manufacturing in India has been neglected and sorely needs attention.