Bharti Airtel has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to gender diversity, with a vision to achieve 50 percent women representation across its workforce, according to the company's Chief People Officer (CPO). The current representation stands at around 18.5 percent, a marked improvement from under 10 percent a few years ago.
Current Progress Toward Gender Parity
"We are currently at around 18.5 percent women which is still far from the 50 percent goal I envision, but it's a significant leap from the sub 10 percent figure we had not very long ago," said Amrita Padda, Chief People Officer at Bharti Airtel, speaking during the World Telecommunications Day 2025 virtual event hosted by ETTelecom.
Three-Pillar Strategy for Women
"Our approach has been fairly simple and focused on just a few things. I would actually call them three. The first one is about matching supply to demand. The second one is about enabling a culture which arrests the leak. And the third one is what I call managing the four M's in a women's career life cycle—marriage, maternity, mobility, and medical needs," she reportedly said.
As part of its efforts to boost gender parity, Airtel has revamped its campus hiring programme, now engaging with nearly 100 institutions across 18 states and 30 cities. This includes women-only and non-traditional colleges, helping the company achieve over 60 percent women representation in its campus intake, according to the report.
Remote Work and Micro-Offices
To address barriers faced by women due to life-stage events, Airtel has launched a remote work programme, enabling skilled women from towns such as Chhindwara and Solapur to work in technology roles from home. The company has also established 40 to 50 remote micro-offices, leveraging its proprietary technology infrastructure to support this model.
Returnship and License Support Programs
Additionally, the 'Step-In' returnship program helps women re-enter the workforce after career breaks by directly addressing hiring bias and proactively recruiting women with experience gaps, Padda said, as mentioned in the report.
While discussing efforts to retain women in traditionally male-dominated field network roles, she noted that a key hurdle is the low percentage of women in India—only a single-digit figure—who hold driving licences. In response, Airtel rolled out a support policy to help women employees obtain licences, removing a critical barrier to entry for on-ground roles.
Also Read: Airtel rolls out internet awareness training program E-Shakti for women
Bridging the Gender Gap
"Such targeted solutions help us in creating an inclusive environment not just through headline initiatives, but by embedding inclusivity into the operational fabric of our workforce strategy," Padda added, as per the report.
She also reportedly highlighted that while women comprise 38 percent of entry-level positions at Airtel, the figure drops to 26 percent in managerial roles and further to 15 percent at senior levels. The company's initiatives aim to not only improve these numbers but also embed inclusivity into its operational strategy.
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