P.inc is a movement that focuses on empowering women by helping them get back into the workforce after an extended break. The organization that calls itself a one-stop shop for training, placement and other essential services to assist in rebuilding your career, toured 8 cities within India to promote this initiative. Dubbed the Talking Tour, the seminar features prominent panelists who share their own experiences, guiding women who are looking to re-join the job market. Such an event took place in IFIM on 25th April, 2014.
A number of women in the country take a break from their busy careers for a varied number of reasons. Primarily they do it to focus on their family or children. Sometimes they may choose to pursue some other avenues or work on their dreams. Whatever the reason may be, when they decide to restart their career they face a lot of difficulties. In most cases they are unable to start where they left off and are forced to take up jobs that do not compliment their skill set.
The P.inc Talking Tour tried to address some of these concerns faced by women. The panelists included Sudha Murthy, the Chairperson of Infosys Foundation, Vinita Bali, Ex-MD, Britannia Industries, Sachi Irde, Executive Director, Catalyst Consulting and Dr. Kshira Muthanna, Technology & Quality Leader, GE. The panel was moderated by veteran journalist Bachi Karkaria who is also the Advisor and Editorial Curator for P.inc.
The panel talked about various issues faced by women during recruitment as well as at the workplace. They also talked about the need to educate corporations about the problems faced by women and how their policies could be changed to better integrate women and diversify the workforce. The need for women to focus on what they want and how to go about it was the central theme of the seminar.
Sudha Murthy talked about how she had to compromise with her family and her social life for her company. Vinita Bali talked about how a confident and talented professional can succeed regardless of their sex. The importance of having a support system at home was also showcased. Having an understanding spouse, in-laws or parents and relatives is very important for a working woman. If not you should try to develop such a system. The priorities need to be organized and the goal should be clear. Confidence, credibility, professionalism are very important traits to possess in a work environment. Corporations are businesses and cannot afford to ignore the large skilled workforce represented in this demographic.
The seminar came to a conclusion with a question and answer session with the panelists where the women were able to interact and discuss their specific problems.
P.inc is a wonderful initiative that has decided to focus on an often overlooked social issue. The immense response that the Talking Tour has received shows us that a large number of women are facing similar problems and something needs to be done to rectify it.
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