Merck India's first-ever student engagement programme with 600 students

Bengaluru: Merck believes that fostering a sense of belonging, among its employees, is crucial for driving progress and innovation. The company is committed to creating an inclusive environment to enable employees from diverse backgrounds to work together. To attract the right talent into the workforce, Merck has been continually partnering with industries and academia – for training, skill development and research.

With a strong background of academic advancement and being at the forefront, Merck is strengthening ties with educational institutions to expand the industry. The event organised with New Horizons College of Engineering was a step in this direction. This was the first time that MITC (Merck IT Centre) in partnership with the company's University relations team organised an all-day student engagement programme.

This event saw a plethora of activities starting with panel discussion 'Hear Me Out' with students across age groups – which centred around expectations of a future workplace from the lens of diversity and inclusion. The discussion moderated by Head of HR, Merck India – Shiv Kumar - was attended by 600 enthusiastic students along with the faculty and leaders from MITC.  Shiv Kumar said, "It was no time that DE&I took the centre stage as a burning topic amongst the students. Merck India continues to find ways to bring voices together to ready the workplace for the future and learn from the generations which will soon enter the workplace. This was just one of our many efforts."

Following the panel discussion was a visit of the industry-sponsored labs in the campus by MITC Leadership team. With a visit to these laboratories, the Merck team gained an in-depth understanding of how partnerships with academic institutions can offer students practical, relevant, and hands-on learning experiences that align with industry needs. The event concluded with 'Chai Pe Charcha,' where the students had the exclusive opportunity to interact with the leadership team of Merck IT Centre as well as Merck India University Relations.

The team guided these students to create a vision board as a group – to showcase their ideal workplace for women. The best vision won prizes. Crucial issues such as diversity, inclusion and equity at work place along with a cohesive society were some of the hot topics that were discussed. This thoughtful initiative enabled everyone to gain insights into the mind-set of the future workforce and how to prepare the environment accordingly.