Mumbai,
India 18th April 2025 –
In a significant push toward building an
inclusive and equitable workplace, CEAT Tyres—part of the RPG Group—is driving
meaningful change in the traditionally male-dominated manufacturing sector. The
company has set an ambitious target of achieving 25% gender diversity on the
shop floor and 20% in leadership roles (General Manager and above) by 2027, far
ahead of the industry average of 6–8%.
At present, CEAT’s
overall gender diversity stands at 17%, with women making up around 9% of
senior leadership. "We’ve been proactive in hiring, sometimes building a
talent bench even without immediate vacancies," said Somraj Roy, Chief
Human Resources Officer at CEAT. “We’re exploring talent from diverse
backgrounds—including women from defence services, economically weaker
sections, and remote geographies like Ladakh, the North-East, and urban
underrepresented areas like Dharavi (one of the largest slums in Mumbai).”
Roy added that for
CEAT, diversity extends beyond gender to include socioeconomic, educational,
and regional backgrounds, as well as people with special abilities.
Progressive
Policies at the Core
CEAT’s DEI journey
has evolved steadily over the past five years, growing from 11% gender
diversity in 2019 to 17% today through focused hiring, mentorship, and
inclusive workplace practices. The company’s workforce today stands at around
8,000 employees, including associates and management.
To foster greater
inclusion, CEAT has implemented a number of progressive workplace policies:
- Work-from-Anywhere: CEAT’s flexible work
policies were introduced even before COVID-19. Shop floor managers now
follow five-day work weeks and have access to remote working options where
applicable.
- Menstrual Wellness Leave (‘Shakti’ Policy):
Launched in September last year, the policy allows women to take menstrual
leave without the need for managerial approval—one of the first such
initiatives in the industry.
- Support for Women Returning to Work: In line
with broader industry efforts, CEAT offers flexible work arrangements,
re-skilling programs, and mentorship for women re-entering the workforce.
According to
Statista, urban female labor force participation in India was just over 22% for
the year ending June 2024, compared to 59% for urban men. Perhaps in one of the
industry-firsts, the company has a progressive work-from-anywhere policy
tailored to employee categories which has been in place pre-COVID. Shop floor
managers have five-day work weeks with work-from-home options. To address the
gender gap, several companies are increasingly offering policies for women
returning to work, which include flexible work options, mentorship and
re-skilling opportunities. Further, in Sept last year, Ceat floated a menstrual
wellness leave policy `Shakti’, among the first few companies to allow women to
take time off without approval.
Meanwhile, in a
unique initiative four years ago for all employees, he said, the company moved
from external rankings to measuring internal happiness, on parameters including
connection, culture, growth, value, job satisfaction, and work-life balance.
"The feedback shapes policies like our Shakti Policy, and unconscious bias
training. It also ensures that our policies resonate with employee needs’’, he
added.
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