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Accelerating equality

Swisslog Senior Software Testing Engineer, Bhawna Bareja, credits a feeling of gender equality in the workplace to a supportive environment, and encourages everyone – especially in typically male-dominated industries like automation – to continue to take positive action to support their peers.

The 2025 International Women’s Day theme is “accelerate action on gender equality” and Bhawna believes she has seen firsthand what an impact this can make.

“From the outside, there may be a difference in numbers between male and female staff, but working here I feel like I am treated equally with everyone else. I’ve received outstanding support from my manager, and other colleagues, and have been encouraged to learn new skills, try new things, and expand my capabilities,” she says.

Bhawna has worked for warehousing and intralogistics leader, Swisslog, for more than two years, and in similar industries for the past decade.

Her role as Senior Software Testing Engineer spans the entire project lifecycle, from quoting, to feature testing, to functional acceptance testing, to on-site testing, and ramp-up.

“It’s a big task, but it’s also a fun one. My favourite part is the on-site testing when I get to visit the customer site and see everything come together. It’s the culmination of hard work from many different teams, so it’s satisfying when it all clicks into place,” she says.

Women in STEM

As part of last year’s International Women’s Day, an Australian Government event “Let’s Talk Women in STEM” revealed that just 27% of women are represented in the Australian STEM ecosystem.

“The positive side of this statistic is that it leaves great potential for our industry to grow, and encourage more women to join, where they can make meaningful contributions,” says Bhawna.

“My advice for women looking to enter warehouse automation – or STEM more broadly – is to surround yourself with supporters. There are far more of these than there are detractors,” she adds.

“If your colleagues and managers are encouraging you to level up your skills, try new things, engage in new training – this means they want to see your career grow and succeed. When done successfully, you’ll feel like you’re treated totally equally with other employees, regardless of gender.”

“People might think they don’t have the power to make any real change – but it’s the small things that cumulatively make a big difference.”

Taking on challenges

Bhawna works for Swisslog,part of the KUKA Group, and as such, is eligible to send teams to participate in the KUKA Innovation Challenge.

Recently, Bhawna was team lead for a KUKA Innovation Challenge tasked with creating automation solutions under the theme of “Circular Economy”.

“It was a big commitment, because you had to dedicate many hours to it, while balancing your day-to-day job, but it was a highly valuable experience,” she said.

“Two Australian teams entered, and both were led by women. Further, both advanced to the final round of the competition, despite representing just 1% of the eligible participants – that was really rewarding to be a part of.”

Looking to the future

Software forms a crucial part of warehouse automation systems, and it continues to advance with the proliferation of machine learning and AI.

“With software advances, more features become available, and greater functionality, but with this comes greater complexity and a need for more extensive testing before a go-live on a new project,” says Bhawna.

“In recent years, I’ve seen an increase in demand for standardised software, with proven features and benefits, to deliver quicker implementation and shorter testing times.”

“Naturally every project is different, and larger warehouse automation systems often require their own specialised software, but where standardised software can deliver all the required features, it can be a time-saving and cost-saving option.”

“One thing I’ve learnt working in this industry is that there’s always more to learn. I found this daunting at first, because there are a lot of unknowns. But once I got past that, I realised it meant that my work will continue to be interesting and I’ll continue to expand my skills throughout my career journey.”

“I’m grateful to have such a supportive workplace at Swisslog, where I’ve never felt like I’m treated differently to anyone else. It’s this support that gives me the confidence to take on the next challenge – whatever that may be!”