NASSCOM kick starts Diversity Summit 2010

BANGALORE: In an initiative for creating a diverse workforce in IT-BPO industry, NASSCOM, today started its 2-day annual diversity initiative, the Diversity and Inclusivity Summit 2010.

NASSCOM’s Diversity and Inclusivity Summit 2010 will also provide women professionals from the industry a unique opportunity to network, gain insights into non-conventional growth ladders within organizations and get training in skills and competencies that help progress their careers to leadership positions, said a press release.

Sucharita Eashwar, senior director, NASSCOM said, “With the initiative, NASSCOM aims to promote Women’s Entrepreneurship and Supplier Diversity amongst companies and engage and partner with government at the state and national level to enable greater participation of diverse groups in the economy. We have formed four national level sub groups to define the contours of the particular diversity groups, create an ecosystem for their inclusivity, and take forward the agenda through activities across the country.”

He added that NASSCOM has constituted a high powered Diversity Forum with accountability and leadership of an EC member, to bring the diversity initiative into mainstream.

Diversity in the Indian IT/ITES workplace is influenced by globalization, talent availability, customer expectations, changing demographics, move towards CSR and sustainability, culture of innovation and inclusion and skill, performance behavior demands.

There has been a transformational shift in the focus of gender inclusivity, and Indian companies are increasingly viewing it as a business imperative, and not as a corporate social responsibility activity. As compared to 2005-06, when only four companies had formal defined policies for gender inclusivity now there are about 350 companies which have formal gender inclusivity policies.

With an increasing number of women engineers passing out of college every year, and a social shift towards greater acceptance of a working spouse, the IT industry provides a safe and friendly environment for the working woman. These factors have led to a sustained increase in the number of women employed by the IT industry.

According to Gartner, the emergence of women in varied roles in IT is among the 10 converging factors that will change the workforce by 2010, the release added.