HYDERABAD: The IKEA Foundation, IKEA Group’s philanthropic arm, in partnership with UN Development Programme (UNDP) and India Development Foundation (IDF), on Wednesday launched a programme for skill building among women for retail sector in Telangana.
Under ‘DISHA’ retail pilot programme, initially 350 women from Hyderabad will be trained on retail specific roles and about 150 women of them will have the opportunity to get placed in the IKEA Hyderabad store.
If the pilot is successful, it will cover other states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, National Capital Region among others, said a statement from IKEA Foundation.
IKEA will open doors to its first store in Hyderabad early next year. The store will employ 800 direct co-workers and another 1,500 indirectly for services.
“We welcome IKEA’s efforts and the Telangana government is fully supportive to increase women workforce in India,” said Telangana Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Jupally Krishna Rao.
“We hope that like IKEA, many other companies come forward to join hands and skill more Indian women to join the workforce.”
IKEA is committed to hiring 50 per cent women across levels in a country where only 27 per cent of women are currently part of the workforce, said IKEA India CEO, Juvencio Maeztu.
IANS