India: Tata Steel augments its transgender employee base

On 21 February, Indian steel giant Tata Steel announced it has recruited 12 transgender crane operator apprentices at its Kalinganagar plant in the western state of Gujarat. The apprentices will undergo a one-year training course before being able to commence work as crane operators. The hiring of these twelve apprentices is part of the group’s broader LGBTQ+ inclusion policy. Already in December 2021, Tata Steel hired 14 earth-moving machine operators exclusively from the transgender community for mining operations in the eastern state of Jharkhand (c.f. article No.12673). “This step of onboarding the LGBTQ+ community not only aims to break the glass ceiling, but also targets to include mainstream transgender people in the society. Tata Steel’s Diversity & 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,” Tata Steel said in a statement. The goal is to “create a workplace where everyone is respected, every voice is heard,” the company continued. The company also offers LGBTQ+ employees the opportunity to reveal their partners so that they can receive various benefits offered by the company, such as health coverage. The company also supports its employees in their gender reassignment process.