Ecommerce companies are making
concerted efforts to fix the gender balance in the traditionally male-dominated
supply chain roles.
From offering creche facilities, period leave, gender-balanced sourcing and
women-only delivery and customer service stations to having partnerships with
women’s campuses, companies such
Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho and Jumbotail are wooing them with a variety of
initiatives, recognising the hurdles in hiring women for supply chain roles.
Flipkart has increased women’s representation in the supply chain by 64% in the
last two years, while Meesho is targeting 33% by March next year from 21% now. “At
Flipkart, we believe in the power of diversity as a catalyst for success,” said
Prajakta Kanaglekar, vice-president of supply chain and customer experience
teams.
Apart from comprehensive hiring initiatives, and hubs exclusively led by women,
Flipkart has adopted localised hiring strategies, provided transportation and
established creche facilities at 28-odd sites to address the challenges of
hiring female employees in remote areas.
In the B2B food and grocery sector,
Jumbotail is capitalising on its formal programme, Project Shakti, to bring
more women into supply chain operations. It aspires to have women in 50% of
operations roles at supply chain fulfilment centres in the next 12-18 months.
Project Shakti aims to hire, train, and
elevate women to key roles in order processing and inventory management for
grocery, staples, and FMCG products, the company said.
Meesho’s approach involves gender-based sourcing, partnerships with women’s
campuses and educational institutions as well as internship opportunities for
those seeking hands-on experience in the field.
“Despite progress, we acknowledge the unique challengs faced by women in such industries,
including a lack of mentorship,” said Ashish Kumar Singh, Meesho’s chief HR
officer. To address these, the company
has initiatives to support the professional growth of its female employees.
Liju Thomas, director – HR, India operations at Amazon India, said the company
has launched multiple initiatives to increase opportunities for women in the
logistics sector whilst strengthening its DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion)
commitment. According to recruitment firms, there has been a big jump in such
mandates. CIEL HR has seen a 40%
increase in demand for female talent, led by a shift towards greater gender
diversity and inclusivity within India’s ecommerce industry, CEO Aditya Narayan
Mishra said.
“Ecommerce players like BigBasket,
Flipkart, Amazon and Ecom Express are actively looking to hire women. Most
ecommerce companies are hiring for roles such as pickers/packers, scanning
executives, supervisors, analysts, last-mile delivery personnel, mid-mile
delivery personnel, riders and customer service executives within the supply
chain,” he added.
Manpower india has got at least two times more demand compared with last
quarter for diversity hiring, said senior its director Alok Kumar, attributing
it to lower attrition rates and higher productivity among women compared to
their male peers.