Ford Motor Company today said it has stepped up its efforts in the Asia-Pacific markets, including India, to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace, which involves an increased focus on recruiting and training women employees.

In the last five years, Ford has grown the number of women working in its operations across Asia-Pacific by more than 125 per cent and increased the number of women in senior leadership roles, the company said in a release here.

The auto major said it is accelerating efforts to diversify its workforce and strengthen overall talent bench in engineering and other disciplines.

“Women have been traditionally under represented in the auto industry, especially in Asia, and we see that as a massive untapped opportunity. Recruiting and retaining the best talent is a big challenge in Asia. Increasing women in our workforce is not only the right thing to do, it’s key to winning in China and other fast—growing Asia Pacific markets,” Ford Asia Pacific President Dave Schoch said.

Ford India has partnered with local organisations to enable women employees to make a smooth transition back to the workplace after a long absence.

The company has put in place training and development programmes to help prepare women employees for higher leadership positions, it added.