Electric Vehicles Have Expanded Employment For Women In India

The shift to electric has expanded employment opportunities for women who are not only stepping up in leadership roles but are also actively handling manual activities. Women already account for 11-15% of the overall EV workforce of 1.1 crore in India and these numbers are likely to reach 50% by 2030-33.

Historically dominated by men, the automotive industry has undergone drastic changes, providing women their long overdue place in the sector. Women are stepping up in leadership roles, actively handling manual activities such as products and technology development and operating machines to maintain a vehicle, apart from getting involved in various other segments like research and development and marketing.

A research paper by Ola Mobility Institute (OMI) foundation says- EV ready India :feminising the EV Value chains to propel growth.The research paper, therefore, focuses on the inclusion of women in the evolving landscape of electric mobility. The research employs extensive secondary research supplemented with inputs from expert interactions. Leveraging the framework, it identifies barriers and provides recommendations for the ecosystem to increase women’s participation across the EV value chain. The paper highlights key insights that collectively underscore the importance of a multi-faceted approach to catalyse women-led development in the electric mobility ecosystem, spanning reforms around policy, skill development, infrastructure, awareness, and finance. The paper also aims to contribute to India’s just and equitable transition towards a decarbonised future and Viksit Bharat by addressing key challenges and proposing actionable recommendations. This will ensure that women play a significant role in shaping not only India’s electric mobility ecosystem but also her future.

With industry-level initiatives, women can increasingly be found on EV shop floors in the job roles of assembly line operator, assembly technician, apprentice trainee, production associate, machine operator as well as in profiles across security, welding, general assembly, product testing, and battery manufacturing,” it said.

There has been a rise in the number of women getting hired in the mid-level managerial positions as well between 2022-23 and 2023-24. “The data for campus hiring for 2023 indicates fresh talent hired from colleges and institutions constitutes 20% to 25% of the total talent hired in the design domain, with 30% of them being women in roles such as design engineering, development, and computer-aided design and drafting (CADD),” it said, adding that at the directors and C-suite executive level, the representation of women stands at 12-15%.

As per the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the electric vehicle (EV) sector can generate 10 million direct jobs and an additional 50 million indirect jobs by 2030.

The writer of this article is Dr. Seema Javed, an environmentalist & a communications professional in the field of climate and energy