Women can stand the heat

“All the time we talk about empowering women, and think India has finally come off the age. But to know the truth, go to the big corporate houses and you will find they hardly have any women employees. Some companies do not even mince their words, they blatantly have ‘women need not apply’ in their classified ads,” says an angry social activist.

A study reveals that, only about three per cent women hold senior positions in private sectors, while on an average, five to six per cent women are employed. This study comes as a shock, particularly when the number of working women has been rising steadily.

An official of a reputed company laughs and sheepishly admits his orthodox family’s stance for not employing women.

Another women chairperson points out, “It is unfortunate that women graduates from IIM-Ahmedabad – the top institute for MNC also do not pursue a career. It was found in a study that at least 70 per cent never joined any office.”

Not much has changed since 1974, when Sudha Murthy, wife of Narayan Murthy, had challenged JRD Tata for an advertisement saying, ‘ladies need not apply.’ She was employed to work on the shop floor in Telco. Now Telco regularly employs women unlike its counterparts with no women on the shop floor – where vehicles are manufactured.

An anxious official of a famous automobile company says, “We have recruited women in other sections but not on the shop floor. As it is, not many women want to be at the manufacturing site.”

Even IT and consulting firms do not want married women employees. The fear of maternity leave hampering projects is too much for these companies to afford.

There has been a case, where a woman, after successfully completing her summer training was rejected for the permanent post because of her gender.

Another woman on basis of anonymity says, “I was called for an interview in this highly established firm because they thought I was a guy. They said I should have written a Mr or Ms before my name. Needless to say I did not get the job.”

However, things seem to be taking a turn for the better now. There are other companies who prefer women to men because they have more emotional quotient than men and, this is what they and their clients want. As long as you have a person who is not customer sensitive, your company cannot grow”, adds an official.