Titan Industries Ltd., a member of the Tata Group of companies, is India’s leading producer of watches and jewelry. Headquartered in Tamil Nadu, Titan Industries manufactures over 8 million watches annually, operates over 600 service centres, and exports its products to more than 30 countries around the world. 

The Challenge
Despite considerable economic growth over the past decade, a large percentage of India’s population remains poor, with limited access to employment and other income-generating activities. Access to employment is a particular challenge for persons with disabilities, who rank among the least affluent in Indian society. It is estimated that fewer than 1 percent of the approximately 70 million disabled persons in India are employed, which leads to economic disadvantage, denies rights and limits opportunities for the disabled to play constructive roles in their communities.

In general, Indian business’ record of providing job opportunities to persons with disabilities has not been excellent. Titan Industries, however, has taken steps to reverse this job-market bias through numerous initiatives that target persons with disabilities.

The Actions
Titan Industries recognizes the important role that the private sector can play in empowering vulnerable population groups and has developed its Community Development Policy with the objective of making opportunities available to “differently-abled” people. In implementing this policy, the company identifies persons with disabilities from the surrounding communities in Tamil Nadu and provides them with suitable employment opportunities. Typically, these jobs involve tasks with low levels of bodily risk, a minimum of required physical movement and/or little need for verbal communication. For example, the physically impaired are given positions polishing watch cases and assembling components, the hearing impaired assembling watches, and the vision impaired working in Titan Industries' packaging and dispatch division.

In addition to Titan Industries’ strategy of recruiting persons with disabilities, the company also addresses the special needs of its employees once they are on the job. Titan offers special training to enhance their technical competence and computer literacy; it has established non-discrimination policies; and it seeks to create a conducive work environment by creating an ergonomic working area. The company is also offering grievance handling and counseling to tackle problems such as exploitation, marital problems and emotional problems that its disabled employees may face. 

The Benefits
At Titan Industries, persons with disabilities are accepted as equal members of the workforce and given commensurate opportunities to contribute and earn a decent living. In its approach, employing persons with disabilities is not philanthropy but a realization that persons with disabilities are an integral part of society and deserve understanding, support and opportunities rather than charity or misplaced compassion.

Titan employs approximately 115 persons with disabilities (representing around 6 percent of its workforce), including those with auditory, physical and visual disabilities. As a result of the opportunities it makes available, Titan believes that the quality of life of these employees has improved to a great extent. The program is also changing the mindset in India regarding the employability of persons with disabilities. 

Finally, this policy has been a success not only in terms of the positive effects on persons with disabilities but also on Titan’s bottom line.  Persons with disabilities are often loyal and focused on their jobs and the productivity and quality of Titan’s disabled employees has never been an issue.

This case example was developed by Titan Industries Ltd. for An Inspirational Guide to Implementing the United Nations Global Compact, which features 21 examples of how companies from a wide range of sectors and countries have approached the challenge of implementing the ten principles and engaging in partnerships for development.