Tata Steel, RJ Corp, Publicis Sapient and other major companies in India Inc. are ramping up getting of transgender employees. Despite the small numbers, there is a definite upward trend toward boosting their participation in normal business tasks.
As part of their efforts to be more diverse, a number of businesses have begun hiring and reviewing their policies. Some organizations are even hiring transgender people, providing a higher stipend for hormone treatments, and even identifying additional positions for them.
At least 50 trans people will soon be employed by Tata Steel. Tata Steel now employs 106 transgender people who work at all locations, according to a company director in an emailed reply.
In a particular recruitment drive held previous month to attract transgender people, the steelmaker received more than 300 programs. ” The selection is still in procedure”, the spokesperson said.
Publicis Sapient, one of the world’s largest marketing firms, has hired trans staff in India through schemes like the Rainbow Internship.
” The trans information we are looking for are not restricted to one place, but stretch across different domains including businesses, HR, marketing, engineering, and goods management”, said Vieshaka L Dutta, top director, diversity, equity, inclusion, for India and APAC at Publicis Sapient. ESL Steel, part of the Vedanta Group, is planning to use trans people in its management /security works to begin with. In the upcoming fiscal year 2024 to 2025, we are anticipating the getting of two trans employees at ESL Steel, according to Khirod Kumar Barik, assistant CHRO. The organization currently does n’t have any transgender employees.
Most businesses are now providing trans employees with health insurance benefits that include hormone replacement therapy and female reaffirmation surgery.
” Our allowance for skill enhancement training programs is definitely higher for transgender people than the other fellowships that we offer to other business trainees…by nearly 300 %”, said Akshay Tyagi, mind- diversity, equity, addition, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group. ” Because many trans people are receiving hormone therapy,” she said.
Companies are also strengthening their policies around transgenders.
In 2022, InHarmony, a diversity, equity and inclusion consultancy firm, was working with only one manufacturing company on transgender inclusion. Today, it is working with four large organisations, said its founder partner, Anupama Easwaran.
According to Easwaran, most companies were earlier conducting sensitisation programmes sporadically, mostly during the pride month. ” Today, the same companies have monthly sensitisation programmes”, she said.
Companies are also providing insurance coverage for live- in and same- sex live- in partners, employee assistance programmes, and internal mental health helplines to all, including LGBTQ+ employees. Other initiatives include gender-neutral workplace policies and gender-neutral bathrooms.
” We set out on a mission to actively promote the transgender community’s employment opportunities and foster an inclusive workplace environment,” said Varun Jaipuria, executive vice chairman of Pepsico’s largest franchise outside the US.
” As we look ahead to 2024, we are eager to build on our successes and create more opportunities for transgender employment in our manufacturing and sales functions,” he said.
InHarmony’s Easwaran said,” The government’s equal opportunities policy is motivating companies that had not done any work on trans inclusion to start having conversations”.
In February, the Centre formulated India’s first equal opportunities policy for the transgender community. It forbids a transgender’s gender identity disclosure without permission.
