Parliament can wait, corporates prefer women

MNCs ask recruiting agencies to maintain a minimum percentage of women in jobs

Even as the proposed Women's Reservation Bill remains a political raw nerve the corporate world has moved positively to ensure that the women should be preferred in jobs.

Multi-national corporations have been asking their recruiting agencies to ensure that a minimum percentage of women applicants be maintained at the interview level, at least.

While American Express has asked for at least one third representation of women applicants at all levels, the Bharti group wanted it to be 25-30 per cent.

"We are working consciously on increasing the number of women in the company. With our HR initiatives, we plan to stress recruitment of women at the senior and middle level since there is a large talent pool at the entry level," said Bharti HR group director Inder Walia.

The Bharti group has already a policy in place to give preference to women in jobs and with its new initiative has gone a step further ahead.

International retail giant Wal-Mart is also learnt to have given a mandate to its headhunting firm to recruit women for certain positions in HR and finance, which are reserved for the fairer sex.
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Technology major IBM, whose employee base in India is 53,000, has 26 per cent women representation in its staff.

"IBM has a policy under which we offer special incentives to recruitment consultants for getting qualified women professionals into the organization. We also host all women recruitment camps," IBM India diversity lead Prathima V Shetty told MiD DAY.

Software giant Microsoft has Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Development objectives for its business leaders to identify, promote and include women and minorities as candidates for senior positions in the company.

Baxter International Inc.'s Asia Pacific initiative, Building Talent Edge, reached its 2010 target of a 50/50 gender balance across management-level and critical positions two years ahead of schedule.
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"Gender diversity is not just a social issue but one that addresses a core challenge for all organizations," said Gerald Lema, Corporate Vice President and President, Asia Pacific, Baxter International Inc.

Welcoming the initiative by the corporate world, actor-turned-politician Nafisa Ali said it will help the cause of women empowerment.

"They (women) should be given a greater say in the decision making process," she added.

However, anti-reservationists have a different view altogether. "Jiten Jain , general secretary, Youth for Equality, said: "The big companies hire women exclusively in the name of maintaining sex ratio especially in campus placements."

Jain called it a mere "eyewash"

However, Nivedita an MBA student at the Amity University said preference should not be treated as reservation.

She said while the initiative will help women get jobs easily, it will also ensure that there is no compromise on talent.

"It is just about ensuring that the women reach the designated place easily. After that there will a fair competition, which is very healthy," she said.

What's the fuss about Women's Reservation Bill

The proposed legislation to reserve 33.3 percent seats in Parliament and state legislatures for women was drafted first by the H D Deve Gowda-led United Front government.

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on September 12, 1996. Though it has been introduced in Parliament several times since then, the Bill could not be passed because of lack of political consensus.