Women in Manufacturing: Breaking Barriers Through Skill Development

PNN
New Delhi [India], July 15: For decades, manufacturing has been viewed as a male-dominated industry. But the factory of today looks very different from the factory of the past.
Automation, robotics, AI, electric vehicles, and digital manufacturing are transforming shop floors across India. Success in modern manufacturing depends less on physical strength and more on technical skills, precision, problem-solving, and the ability to work with advanced technologies. As manufacturing evolves, so does one of India's largest workforce opportunities -- increasing women's participation in the sector.
The shift is already visible. India's Female Labour Force Participation Rate has risen from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 41.7% in 2023-24, while women accounted for nearly three-fourths of the incremental manufacturing jobs created in the country during this period, highlighting the growing role women are playing in India's industrial growth story.
Across India, some of the country's most iconic products are increasingly being built by women. Tata Motors' Pune facility, where the popular Tata Harrier and Tata Safari are assembled, operates with one of India's most celebrated all-women manufacturing teams. Similarly, electronics manufacturing facilities producing smartphones for global brands, including iPhones assembled in India, employ predominantly women workforces across production, testing, and quality operations. These examples demonstrate that the future of manufacturing will be defined not by gender, but by skills and capability.
For over 150 years, the Tata Group has contributed to nation-building by creating opportunities through education, employment, and skill development. Continuing this tradition, Tata Indian Institute of Skills (Tata IIS) was established to create industry-ready talent for emerging sectors such as advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles, robotics, and automation through industry-led, hands-on learning.
At Tata IIS, creating opportunities for women in manufacturing is embedded into how we build talent. Through industry-led, hands-on learning, women gain experience with advanced manufacturing technologies while building technical confidence and workplace readiness. Today, over 624 women learners have enrolled across Tata IIS programs, with 422+ women trained in advanced manufacturing disciplines and placed across sectors such as automotive, electronics, and industrial automation.
One such learner is Shruti Vinod Bagle, who joined the Industrial Automation Fundamentals program at Tata IIS and went on to secure a position as a Junior Engineer at Hindalco, Pune.
"My father is a conductor and my mother a homemaker, and I always aspired to build a strong career. My dedication paid off when I secured a position as a Junior Engineer at Hindalco, Pune."
Shruti's journey reflects the transformative role that industry-aligned skilling can play in creating opportunities for women and enabling them to build successful careers in India's rapidly evolving manufacturing sector.
As the world celebrates World Youth Skills Day, initiatives such as the National Skills Test (NST) are helping young people across India access opportunities in future-focused manufacturing careers.
Tata IIS's national entrance examination is conducted twice every year to identify and nurture future manufacturing talent from across India. The latest NST cycle has already attracted nearly 7,000 registrations from over 30 states and union territories, reflecting the growing aspiration among young Indians to build careers in future-focused manufacturing sectors.
The factories of the future will not be defined by who can lift the heaviest load, but by who can program the robot, optimise the production line, analyse the data, and solve the problem.
Increasingly, those people will be women.
To learn more about Tata IIS and its industry-led skill development programs, visit: Tata IIS
To explore the National Skills Test (NST) and begin your journey towards a career in advanced manufacturing, visit: National Skills Test (NST)
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