Best practices for assembly line/ heavy manufacturing companies to improve gender equity

Assembly line/ heavy manufacturing companies can roll out 16 interventions to hire and retain more women

Hiring more women in entry-level roles in assembly line/ heavy manufacturing companies can:

Improve work quality (e.g., fewer errors in products assembled by women, lower rejection rate of products inspected by women)
Improve productivity (e.g., more products assembled per hour by women)
Improve work culture (e.g., lower absenteeism amongst women)

Assembly line/ heavy manufacturing companies have low gender equity in entry-levels today because of company and ecosystem-level challenges:

Mangers perceive it as inappropriate for women to work in male-dominated plants
Managers are reluctant to hire women for roles involving heavy lifting/ working at height (e.g., machine operators)
Leadership places limited priority on gender diversity
Managers lack the skills and experience to hire and retain women (e.g., not using referrals to hire women)

Plants, in remote areas or during late hours, lack affordable and safe transport facilities
Some laws make women uncompetitive in labour market (e.g., mandatory pick-up and drop for night shifts, maternity benefits act)
Families do not permit women to work in plants due to safety biases (e.g., accidents at work, physical exertion)
Societal expectations limit women’s enrolment in non- traditional ITI courses required for certain roles (e.g., machine operator, welder)

As of 2025, the gender diversity in assembly line/ heavy manufacturing is 12%. The industry has high potential for employing more women in certain production and support roles:

Assembly line, quality control, and support roles comprise 60-80% of entry-level workforce, but gender diversity in these roles varies from 15% to 30%
Most of these roles require only a 10th or 12th pass qualification, have limited manager bias, and some roles even have demonstrated business benefits (e.g., higher precision in assembly line roles) making these a suitable entry point for non-graduate women

Assembly line/ heavy manufacturing companies can follow a 3-phased approach to make their operations more gender equitable:

Build the organisation’s capability (1-6 months): Lay the foundation by implementing inclusive hiring practices, establishing dedicated support for women (e.g., woman POC), and sensitising managers on gender biases
Prioritise and implement (6-18 months): Ensure sustained focus by creating inclusive infrastructure, strengthening hiring (e.g., paid women referral program,) and retention practices, and building buy-in via business benefits dissemination
Embed and scale (18-36 months): Institutionalise gender diversity by investing in transport support and automation, diversifying hiring channels, and embedding accountability via internal diversity KPIs and guidelines for contract manufacturers

Context