(Image source from: Forbes)

IKEA Launches Retail Training Programme For Telangana Women:- A retail training programme for women in Telangana has been launched by the philanthropic arm of home furnishing major IKEA, the IKEA Foundation.

In collaboration with United Nations Development Program and India Development Foundation, the programme under the name “DISHA” aims to impart skills to one million women in more than 10 industries and help them get employment.

A release from the IKEA said on Wednesday, that in the presence of Minister of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Jupally Krishna Rao, the programme was launched. The IKEA  is looking to hire an equal number of men and women. Moreover, it expects to open its first store in India at Hyderabad early 2018.

Noting that it “is committed to hiring 50% women across levels in a country where only 27% of women are currently part of the workforce,” the company said. The challenge of increasing the number of skilled female workers in the retail sector is the main goal of DISHA, added the company.

The IKEA India CEO Juvencio Maeztu said: “We have a non-negotiable commitment to employ 50% women co-workers in our stores at all levels.”

Initially 350 women from Hyderabad would be trained on retail specific roles, under the DISHA retail pilot programme.  It would also help build life skills, as reported in a leading news paper.

The woman participating in this programme will leave with certified skills that can help them get jobs across the retail sector. Apart from this, to get placed in the IKEA Hyderabad store, about 150 women in Telangana from the programme would get the opportunity.

This is the first of its pilot and if successful, it is proposed to be taken to Maharashtra, Karnataka, and NCR, the release said. The Minister, welcoming the IKEA’s efforts, said that to increase women workforce, the Telangana Government is fully supportive of the programme.

SUPRAJA