Nokia Networks' India unit hiring more women for core business functions

NEW DELHI: Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia Networks has said its Indian unit is hiring more women for core business functions such as research and development, service delivery, manufacturing, sales and marketing, mirroring a global trend towards improving gender diversity at the workplace.

This year, about 20 per cent of the hires in Nokia India have been women. In business functions such as global delivery center (GDC) and R&D, women now account for nearly half of the workforce, Pramod Chandrasekhar, head of human resources, India, Middle East & Africa, Nokia Networks, told ET. He did not give any figure for female employees in the company.

Chandrasekhar said the company has also rolled out initiatives around safety at work with regard to women’s security, grievance redressal, and health and sports. India is not only a strategic market for Nokia Networks but also houses almost all of its business operations-—manufacturing operations, global delivery centres and R&D setups. The company’s 15,000-strong workforce in India is spread across these units. The company’s manufacturing facility in Chennai has over 1,200 employees, its R&D facility in Bangalore has close to 4,000 workers while its global delivery centres in Noida and Chennai together have over 3,500.

According to Chandrasekhar, R&D has been a focus area for the company when it comes to hiring. With technology evolution, some of the new skills that are emerging are in the space of IP, 3G, 4G, Cloud, Big Data and Internet of Things. “We encourage high-performers by providing an environment that is committed to our culture of values & integrity and promotes diverse work culture and a more productive environment. This is why probably we have one of the highest average numbers of employee stay,” Chandrasekhar said.

Nokia Network’s Swedish rival Ericsson recently said it would hire about 100 female engineers in 2015-16 to increase the number of women employees in India to 15 per cent. Women form about a tenth of Ericsson India’s 2,100 workforce, excluding those at its global services and R&D facilities.