A FAIR DEAL FOR THE FAIR SEX

• (Relevant for Sociology Syllabus: Paper 1 – Systems of Kinship)
• (Relevant for GS Syllabus: Paper1- Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.)

A FAIR DEAL FOR THE FAIR SEX: WOMEN TAKE UP JOBS LEFT BY MIGRANT MALE WORKERS

• Sudeep Sen, business head, TeamLease Services, told FE that e-commerce and warehousing companies are now open to enrolling women, having realised they are equally capable of doing the job.
• The reverse-migration of male workers to their villages has seen women stepping into the breach. The packaging and mobile manufacturing sectors today employ many more women; their count has nearly doubled in the last seven months and they now account for 11-12% of the workforce from 5-6% earlier.
• That the processes in these sectors have become more digitised and automated has helped. Sudeep Sen, business head, TeamLease Services, told FE that e-commerce and warehousing companies are now open to enrolling women, having realised they are equally capable of doing the job. “There is no pushing and pulling required in warehouses anymore, there are machines to do that. However, you require people to manage the work flow and this can be done even by women,” Sen said.
• The good news is that some of them have been able to work their way up to assume managerial roles and earn just as much as their male counterparts. They are managing inventory, stores, material and also working as customer service officers.
• Women have become scanning specialists and data entry operators apart from doing other jobs like sticking and packing and labeling .
• In the mobile manufacturing industry, they are assemblers and also do work like sticking, packing, testing and assorting. Depending on which city or town they are located in, the average pay ranges between Rs 13,000 and Rs 15,000.
• The demand for employees in these sectors is expected to go up given the increase in online shopping and companies are now expected to run additional shifts to cope with the spike in orders. And even though male migrants are returning the women employed are unlikely to lose their jobs through the night shifts are likely to be staffed primarily by men.