FMCG major Britannia Industries is aiming to increase its women workforce to 50 per cent from the present 41 per cent by 2024, a senior company official said on Sunday. With 15 company-owned manufacturing plants and 35 contract and franchisee units across India having a workforce of over one lakh people, Britannia currently has 41 per cent women employees and would increase the strength to 50 per cent by the end of 2024, Head of Manufacturing, Owned Factories, Indranil Gupta said.
The company has about 1,400 workers in its Madurai unit of which 65 per cent comprise women, Gupta said. The female workforce in the plant will be increased to 70 per cent by 2024, since it produced 190 tonnes of various food products per day, the senior official told journalists.
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When asked about the reason behind pushing for more women employees, Gupta said: "They are more hygienic, and more suitable for these type of jobs, which is an important requirement in food making facilities and disciplined compared to male workers."
Having a higher representation of women has benefitted the plant operations by increasing efficiency and productivity while it has also helped in reducing attrition, he said. Diversity is an important pillar of Britannia's sustainability framework to become a responsible global food company, Regional Manufacturing Head, South, C S Guruprasad said. He added that women are confident to continue in the unit since majority of them belong to agricultural background and also supported their families during the worst period of the Covid pandemic when their husbands or parents were out of jobs.
Besides, the company has the best working environment in addition to pay and social security measures with transport facilities as the workers have five to 20 years experience, the official added.