About half a decade ago, while our product portfolio was getting diversified; Being part of an industry commonly considered male dominant posed us with a different kind of diversification problem. Not many women were part of the auto industry, especially in manufacturing. So, we took it as a challenge to build an all-women assembly line for producing motorcycles at Bajaj Auto Ltd’s Chakan plant.
The obvious impact this created was that our women employee strength grew four-folds between 2015 to 2020. An even more long-lasting impact was observed in the quality and precision of work carried out by the women employees on the shop floor. These assembly lines are now producing high-end motorcycles like Dominar, KTMs etc., and have become a critical part of our organization’s DNA. Our female employees are currently doing jobs that were earlier thought of as ‘men only’ activities, including it dynamic testing of bikes on dynamometers.
After 15 years, while relaunching our iconic “Chetak” brand in the electric vehicle segment, the reign of production was again entrusted upon our female employees. Chetak is produced in an advanced silent factory assembly line at Chakan, where 80% women workforce work on it. We have chosen the path towards diversity, equity, & inclusion and have begun our journey. Needless to say, we are mindful that a lot more needs to be done to attain our D&I goals.
