Before sunrise each day, buses roll out across villages and townships around Kancheepuram district, carrying hundreds of women to one of Tamil Nadu’s largest electronics manufacturing hubs — the Chennai plant of Samsung India.

On the shop floor, amid assembly lines and testing units, these women are doing more than building devices. They are building futures.

This year marks three decades of Samsung’s presence in India — a journey often measured in products, innovation and exports. But inside its Chennai facility, another milestone is visible: the growing number of women shaping the factory floor and redefining what manufacturing looks like in Tamil Nadu.

For Kavya, part of the employee relations team, the plant is a space of growth. With a background in psychology, she works closely on employee well-being initiatives.

“Here, I’ve learned and evolved,” she says. “Colleagues become friends. The workplace feels like family.”

For Sangeeta, who has spent around a decade at the plant, the turning point was transportation. Long commutes once meant stress and safety concerns. Company-arranged door-to-door buses changed that.

“It gave me confidence,” she says. “When travel is safe, you can focus on your work.”

[L-R] Sangeetha and Rekha from Samsung Chennai Plant have spent over a decade there.

Across Tamil Nadu’s industrial corridors, safe commuting has quietly become a key enabler for women entering manufacturing roles.

Then there is Rekha from the Visual Display line who has been with Samsung Plant in Chennai for last 18 years. Her motivation is simple: her mother.

“I want to give her everything she ever wished for,” she says.

Two decades of stable employment has allowed her to support her family with dignity — a sentiment echoed by many first-generation industrial workers in the region.

As Tamil Nadu strengthens its position as an electronics manufacturing powerhouse, the image of the factory floor is evolving. In Sriperumbudur, women are present all across production, quality control and operations — contributing not just to output, but to communities.

Three decades into its India journey, the company’s progress in Chennai is reflected not only in scale, but in stories of independence, safety and self-belief — one shift at a time.

To honor International Women’s Day on March 8 and reflect on the value of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Samsung Newsroom sat down with Samsung employees from different backgrounds ­— from executives to new hires and DEI managers — to hear their thoughts on the company’s thriving DEI culture.

“Diversity is the engine of sustainable growth in a global company, and Samsung is committed to Innovation for All,” said Younghee Lee, President and Chief Marketing Officer of Global Marketing Office at Samsung Electronics.

“As a global company, our brand philosophy emphasizes solving customers’ problems and helping them enjoy a better life with our technology and innovation, regardless of their region, race or gender in any part of the world. We are making an effort to genuinely share this value with customers while supporting our mission throughout the organization,” she said.

Lee urged employees to establish a culture of accepting differences by “listening to colleagues’ opinions and having open discussions so that each person can fully realize their capabilities based on their unique background.”

In celebration of International Women’s Day, she advised women to always be themselves and trust their potential. “I believe that if women challenge themselves and pursue what they truly want — in a way that’s true to who they are, rather than blindly following others — it will be a meaningful step forward not only for them but also for society as a whole.”

As a designer for Samsung Electronics’ Interaction Design Team responsible for inclusive design, Gunho Chae considers the brand’s wide customer base to develop products and services that respect the diversity of all users.

Samsung developed a glossary of terms to inform its inclusive language and created guidelines and training materials so employees are well-equipped to incorporate DEI values into all user interface elements and images.

“Samsung accepts all customers and recognizes their differences — regardless of their age, disability, family structure, gender identity, race, culture or socioeconomic status,” said Chae. “We respect all users and strive to make our products, services, manuals and advertisements relevant to our customers for an enhanced user experience.”

Michelle Anne Manglal-Lan, who oversees DEI at Samsung Electronics America, seeks to create an environment where employees can smoothly communicate, understand and learn from each other. She is particularly committed to providing motivation to female employees and fostering a corporate culture where they feel empowered to unlock their potential. Last year, she organized the Americas Employee Resources Groups (ERGs) conference to establish a network for collaboration and share best practices in DEI.

“The ERGs were born out of our employees’ interest and engagement with DEI,” said Manglal-Lan. “Together, we are stronger and can achieve our goals faster. I’m proud of the fact that our North America Region is the first office to launch an ERG.”

A new employee at Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display (VD) Division, Jiyoon Jang realized the company was more diverse than she had imagined when she first stepped foot in Digital City, Samsung’s Suwon office. “We received DEI training during our new employee onboarding sessions, and I realized the importance of an inclusive culture in a place with such a diverse group of people.”

“I knew Samsung made donations to social responsibility efforts,” she said. “Since joining I also learned that the company is sincerely committed to developing technologies that are truly inclusive.”

Relumino Mode for people with low vision and Audible Subtitles for people who are hard of hearing are among some of the projects the VD Division has developed to make the company’s products more accessible — and align with the department’s slogan, Screens for All.

“I hope the products that I work on in the future will contribute to diversity and inclusion and that I will be able to take pride in what I do,” Jang said. “I believe that discrimination against minorities and intergenerational conflicts stem from ignorance, so I am working hard to educate myself by attending sessions and reading about diversity, equity and inclusion whenever I get the opportunity.”