Optum Global Solutions, Microsoft, Facebook, Sapient, Walmart Global Tech India, Unilever, Pega, Qualcomm, DBS Bank, Axis Bank, Novartis, Jubilant, Bajaj Allianz and Onmobile amongst 50+ employers to participate

Photo Credit : chicagobooth.edu,

WiT (Women in Technology) India said that the first edition of WiT Ignite, India’s first Career Fair for women in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) fields, will be held on Friday, 27th November 2020. The Virtual Career fair is presented by Optum Global Solutions, a leading health services and innovation company, and is being co-hosted with ThiinkEqual, a platform for professional women to advance their careers. It is open to women seeking a job in the STEM fields and will allow participating candidates to meet with the hiring managers of several leading companies.

WiT Ignite will feature over 50 inclusive employers, including Facebook, Qualcomm, DBS Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Allianz and Novartis among others, offering more than 1,000 job opportunities to the participants. The fair is expected to attract more than 50,000 participants.

“The coronavirus pandemic has set women professionals back by more than a decade, further disbalancing gender parity at work. We firmly believe that businesses and industries are in the best position to innovate and grow when they have women and men engage equally in technology and sciences roles,” says Anuranjita Kumar, Founder and CEO of WiT India. “As organizations ramp up their STEM teams to gear up for post pandemic growth, we are bringing them an opportunity with WiT Ignite to rebuild a more inclusive culture and tap the intellectual capital that the female workers can bring in.”

Latest data suggests that 5 out of 10 women have lost jobs due to the pandemic and the subsequent economic slowdown. India is widely seen as a leader in STEM education and has continued to churn a promising number of female graduates. Still, the situation in India is more precarious for women than almost anywhere else. India ranks 112 of 153 countries in offering equal opportunities to women and men.

“For India to be a significant contributor to the post-Covid economic revival, gender parity in key organisational roles is going to be a major contributing factor. WiT Ignite aims to help close the ever-widening gender disparity at the workplace and allow employers to benefit from a rich talent pool with niche STEM skills in order to drive post-Covid innovation and growth,” says Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM.

“We firmly believe that diversity and inclusion is absolutely critical for modern business organizations to internalize and embrace not just as a means for delivering maximum returns to their shareholders, but also as part of their greater commitment towards society. Our collaboration with WiT as the chapter lead for Hyderabad and partners for initiatives like Ignite is a testament to the role industry participation can play in achieving gender balance and diversity. We are committed towards creating a workplace that encourages our diverse workforce and provides them avenues to do their life’s best work," says Saikumar Chintareddy, Head – Data Solutions, Optum Global Solutions.

Unlike other career fairs that singularly focus on bringing employers and candidates together under one roof, WiT Ignite is a specially curated event that will provide participating employers with a cohort of niche and pre-assessed candidates that are ranked with AI tools. Employers can also showcase their technology environment to target specific skill groups like AI, ML, analytics among others in specially curated pre-event sessions.

For candidates, WiT Ignite is offering preparatory training in the form of webinars, masterclass, counselling and speed mentoring in the days building up to the event. With Microsoft as the Exclusive Learning Partner for the event, the participants also have an opportunity to enroll for advanced certification courses for free and get a chance to fast-track their career.