Page 25 - MMI-March-April-2022

cal for women and men to ed- Kelkar: The biggest challenge
“Women currently make up ucate themselves on the new is the mindset of co-workers
18 percent of Sandvik Coromant’s
workforce and 30 percent of manufacturing set-up. For ex- and the top management of the
its next-generation managers, ample, now that Industry 4.0 company. However, it is chang-
which is higher than the industry is gaining popularity and most ing very fast, and women in
average. It is possible to be accep-
ted and welcomed into this indus- shop floors are well connected manufacturing are increasing
try. So don't be afraid of it. digitally with offices or deci- their numbers every day. The
Knowledge is powerful, regardless sion-makers, knowledge upda- shift is also due to an increase in
of gender.”
tion, rather than misconcep- the number of female directors
Helen Blomqvist tions, plays a more important or owners, as well as next-gen-
President
Sandvik Coromant role here. eration daughters, stepping into
and successfully running their
Can you discuss some of the ma- father’s business. Women are
jor challenges that women face also getting increasingly ambi-
that women have about working while working in the Manufactur- tious and finding jobs at high-
in a manufacturing environment? ing industry? How would you like er levels in the Manufacturing
Blomqvist: One common mis- to approach these issues? industry. At the same time, the
conception is that women are Blomqvist: One of the biggest industry is also accepting them
not accepted in traditionally challenges women face is based very well.
‘male-dominated’ industries on perceptions and gender ste- The challenges will be fewer
such as manufacturing. This is reotypes. However, the Manufac- with time because of digital
largely due to the values associ- turing industry is facing a major manufacturing and automa- Accord-
ated with the male gender role skills gap, with research predict- tion. The jobs that were done ing to the
in workplace culture. Howev- ing that there could be 2 million manually in manufacturing Bureau
er, according to the Bureau of manufacturing jobs available by earlier are no longer required of Labor
Labor Statistics, nearly 1 mil- 2025. In fact, manufacturing em- to be done manually. Most Statistics,
lion women entered the labor ployment in India has dropped Manufacturing industries have nearly 1
workforce in the United States by almost half in the last five adopted automation in material million
in 2021. This demonstrates that years, to 27 million. As women handling and other labor-in- women
attitudes are changing, and hold less than 30 percent of man- tensive jobs in a massive way. entered the
women are prepared to enter a ufacturing jobs, there is a great So, the challenge for women to labor
stereotypically male-dominat- opportunity for women looking lift heavy things is no longer workforce
ed industry. to enter this industry. Another there. Moreover, while operat- in the Unit-
ed States
Furthermore, there are many challenge relates to maternity ing the machine, there is a lot in 2021.
successful women in manu- leave. Studies have shown dis- of digitalization and minimal
facturing who are the brains parities between the career paths physical work, which is why it
behind many exciting projects. of women and men following is now much better for women
And the number of women childbirth. For instance, only in manufacturing.
employed at Sandvik Coromant 28 percent of women work full- Furthermore, companies should
confirms this. Women cur- time three years after childbirth, address the male-female divide
rently make up 18 percent of compared to 90 percent of men. in industries at the top level once
Sandvik Coromant’s workforce Besides this, 17 percent of wom- they have established a gender
and 30 percent of its next-gener- en leave employment completely equality policy or hired a certain
ation managers, which is higher in the five years after childbirth, percentage of female employees.
than the industry average. It whereas this is as low as 4 per- Also, more decision-making po-
is possible to be accepted and cent with men. sitions should be given to wom-
welcomed into this industry. So To address this, industry lead- en to truly convince them that
don't be afraid of it. Knowledge is ers must do more to encourage they are capable of doing more
powerful—regardless of gender. women into this industry by than just clerical work. Once
demonstrating the possibilities there is a female decision-maker
Kelkar: Manufacturing set-ups and potential out there. They in place, the effect will be notice-
are constantly changing. There must also ensure they are flex- able down the line.
is a significant difference be- ible and more accommodat-
tween how manufacturing was ing of commitments outside of What skills do you believe are es-
done in the 1980s and how it work. Rigid workplaces will sential for success in today’s Man-
is done now. Hence, it is criti- miss out on skilled workers. ufacturing industry?

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