There is little place for women in the Indian auto industry with just 3-5 per cent forming the total workforce. And we are not talking about shop floors but the figure includes those women employed in white-collar jobs.
Compared to this, the entire manufacturing sector in India employs about 17-20 percent women, as per the latest government statistics. Half of India's textile workforce is made up of women too.
Even in the developed markets like Japan, US and Europe women form 20-25 per cent of the total workforce in the auto industry, said a leading auto analyst in Mumbai.
Japanese car makers such as Toyota Kirloskar Motors (1.3 %) and Honda Siel Cars India (3 %) are far more conservative over taking in women compared to their American firms like Ford India (5%) and General Motors India (3.5 %).
In Hyundai Motors India, only 1.5 per cent of the total work force consists of women.
Indian car makers like Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, and M&M are better off compared to Japanese and Korean car companies in terms of recruiting women employees. Indian companies employ women between 3-5 per cent of their total work force.
Barring very few women at the factory level, majority of women working in these organisations are in management, marketing, sales and public relations departments.
Auto industry officials said that one of the reasons for the gap is that the manufacturing process in the car industry is more technical compared to any other manufacturing industry. A less degree of automation compared to Japanese and US car industry has made it more labour intensive.
"The less extent of automation in India is acting as a deterrent to more employment generation for women," said a senior official in General Motors.
Industry analysts still disagree with this industry point of view, saying the number of 3-5 per cent is surprising.
"I personally feel that Indian women psyche does not ally with the conditions in auto industry. They feel the industry is technically masculine. Most of the plants are located away from the city limits. This is another deterring factor," said a senior official in Toyota Kirloskar Motors.
Availability of quality work force at a relatively low price has resulted in labour intensive automobile plants in India. Heavy automation is considered a deterrent to job opportunities in most developing markets.
"Unfortunately women are getting a back seat in the employment scale in India may be because labour intensive manufacturing processes prefer men for the job," said an auto analyst.
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