New Delhi: Tata Steel said Monday it has further expanded its transgender employee base by onboarding 12 crane operator trainees from the LGBTQ+ community at its Kalinganagar plant. In December, Tata Steel’s West Bokaro division had onboarded 14 transgender people as Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) operators at its mines.
This step of onboarding the LGBTQ+ community not only aims to break the glass ceiling, but also targets to mainstream transgender people in the society, Tata Steel said in a statement.
Tata Steel’s diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiative aims at curating a workplace where everyone is respected, every voice is heard, and people can bring their authentic selves to work. The onboarding event at Tata Steel Kalinganagar (TSK) was organised last week.
“We will continue with our efforts to drive LGBTQ+ inclusion and build a benchmark workplace. This journey of HR excellence has been extremely rewarding and motivates us to explore new horizons on diversity and inclusion,” Tata Steel Vice-President, Human Resource Management, Atrayee Sanyal said.
The trainees will undergo training for a year before they begin working in the plant as crane operators.
Stating that D&I has been part of its ethos since long, Tata Steel said it has taken several path-breaking initiatives, including menstrual leaves, equal benefits for LGBTQ+ partners, gender neutral parental leaves, and support for gender confirmation. Tata Steel has a target of having 25 per cent diverse workforce by 2025.