AMADEUS LABS: ENABLING WOMEN TO BREAK THE GLASS CEILING

True to Ayn Rand’s famous saying: “The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me,” the women of Amadeus Labs are a force to reckon with. The energy, zeal, passion and unflinching confidence these women display is contagious. Amadeus Labs is a leader in travel technology and boasts of over 2100 minds that work on path-breaking products and solutions for the travel industry.

Amadeus powers travel by building the critical solutions that help airlines and airports, hotels and railways, search engines, travel agencies, tour operations and improves the travel experience, billions of times a year, all over the world. Today, 16% of the senior leadership at Amadeus Labs Bengaluru comprises women.

Says Mona Bajpai, Technology Leader: “I’ve not had the typical challenging road to success. I’ve had support from all quarters through my journey but when I wanted to begin my second innings, the exceptional policies of the company gave me the necessary push and made my decision easier to return to the workforce. Over the past few years, I have grown with the enablement provided by my organization and Amadeus has reinforced my belief that I can have it all—the cake and pie!”

These Women of Amadeus personify strong will, an enablement to defy the odds and a true sense of equality. Years ago, they refused the recommendation for a local women’s network/support group at the workplace, simply because they didn’t feel the need for it. Women’s empowerment is not a question for these women; it is about empowering each gender together to make sure the workplace is a level playing field each day. That clearly speaks of the gender-neutral policies in place at the organization and stands testimony to their claim of being an equal-opportunity employer, who has created a shared culture of respect, openness and thoughtfulness, underpinned by collective enthusiasm for technology, travel and innovation.

Shares Bhagya, Security Guard at Amadeus Labs: “An adaptable mindset has helped me in my life. I don’t think I have had many challenges. In fact, God has been kind to me in that I have found an employer who treats me just like any other employee in the company. It never crosses my mind that I am a female security guard; as I see it, I am a security guard and I do my job with sincerity. I wish every woman finds an ‘Amadeus Labs’, where she’s respected, treated like family and given wings to fly!”

Amadeus Labs is passionate about supporting women to progress to leadership positions and takes steps to ensure that all employees have equal career opportunities. Whether it is allowing flexible working hours for everyone to suit family commitments—or monitoring equal pay closely, all processes are designed to avoid any gender-based discrimination at the workplace. The company takes gender equality beyond just men and women; recently they introduced gender-neutral washrooms in the offices and included gender change/correction surgery in the company insurance cover.

“The onus on nurturing equality at the workplace lies with men. Why should women need to compromise? We’re equal at home and in the workplace. With more women in the leadership, organizations will lead the way in being empathetic—and that is clearly the way forward. I learn something from the women around me every day, and that helps me evolve. I think women make astute and prudent technologists because they bring in a sense of humanizing technology and that is very visionary,’ says Ranaj Biswas, Senior Director, Engineering.

Amadeus Labs’ Diversity and Inclusion initiative,BELONG, focuses on making the workplace equal, unlike most of their peers who focus on hiring a particular gender for technology roles to raise their diversity quotient. “At the core of Amadeus’ belief lies the fact that, everyone is equal. By putting in place processes that promote one gender over another we are only widening the inequality gap, rather than bridging it. We focus on giving every gender the best opportunities instead,” says Pratibha Neelameghan, Head of EmployeeRelations and Diversity and Inclusion Champion.