India has continued to be a significant growth region for Fortrea, presently accounting for ~26% of our global workforce. Fortrea desires to increase retention of our working mothers, ensuring they are supported as they return to work post childbirth, and that their career continues with the same momentum, to ensure that women are fully supported in their careers.

Fortrea has launched 4 out of 8 of our global ERGs listed below in India with great success. India’s progressive culture has allowed us to pilot several programs and to incubate them for broader adoption to our global workforce. Examples of these creative programs are our “Continuum – Expecting and New Mother’s program”; leveraging our relationship with HBA India – negotiated reduced membership rates for access to India participants; and setting-up a Safe Space Center for the LGBTQ+ community in India.

• The Continuum program was piloted in 2022 where we extended support to 11 would-be mothers through their maternity journey. We formally launched the program across India in 2023 and have had 31 women employees participate in the program.
• Labcorp/Fortrea India helped launch the first India chapter of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) in July 2022. Today the community has grown to a size of close to 500 healthcare professionals, committed to a unified cause of gender parity and equity across the globe.
  Recently, HBA India launched its very first “HBA India Membership Sale”, where membership fees were reduced on a one-year HBA membership. This is a limited time offer to make HBA membership benefits equitably accessible to our community in India. The initiative was led by the Fortrea India country head and has helped many aspiring members become a part of this vibrant professional community of 12000+ members from 1100+ companies across the globe. As part of the HBA partnership, the first HBA Ambassador Program was launched in July 2023. The HBA Ambassador program is the HBA solution for corporate partners to accelerate the development, advancement, and visibility of their members ‘talent pool’. This one-year leadership development program will engage 30 shortlisted employees as ‘Ambassadors’, working on individual success metrics and group initiatives for the organization alongside HBA-trained advisors.
• Fortrea India is setting-up a Safe Space Center in Bangalore, India. This center will provide counselling services to underprivileged LGBTQ+ community members and offer testing support for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI). The center will act as a platform for the community members to share their stories and experiences with their peers in a non-judgmental and completely confidential environment. Moreover, beneficiaries will be encouraged to learn alternate skills to enhance their knowledge and livelihood.

Cassandra Kennedy