The greater presence and participation of women is an issue of special relevance in the labor world, with a special focus on mining, considered a male space historically. In fact, in all OECD countries, women on working age continue to have lower employment rates than men of the same age.
Both women and men are also segregated across industries and occupations: the first ones tend to be employed in low-wage industries, such as the service sector, and they are more likely to have part-time jobs. At the same they are underrepresented in managerial positions (Source: OECD).
Likewise, and as a general reference, the fifth Sustainable Development Goal (UN, 2015), on Gender Equality, argues that “gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but is one of the essential foundations for building a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.” Adding: although some progress has been made in recent decades, the world is far from achieving gender equality.
Against this backdrop, the global mining sector is facing the challenge of promoting the presence of women in different areas of the value chain. In the case of the mining industry in Chile, according to a report by the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco, for its Spanish acronym), women represent 10% of the mining workforce, while, globally, it can reach between 8% and 17%, according to a study by McKinsey & Company (2023).
Our mining clients have assumed for their own operations the importance of inclusion and diversity aspects, specifically a greater female presence. Therefore, ME Elecmetal as Partner for Sustainable Mining, apart from valuing female performance in mining, has set itself the challenge of a greater integration. This, understanding that we are key players in mining supply management, integrating aspects such as Scope 3 emissions and information in terms of percentage of women’s participation and kind of tasks they assume, fostering more female engagement.
ME Elecmetal has outlined its commitment to diversity and inclusion within the organization, through the design and implementation of initiatives to promote and encourage the hiring of women in all lines of business, globally, regionally and locally.
The above is contained in the company’s Sustainability Strategy, which consists of 4 pillars:
In the case of Our People pillar, it establishes the commitment to “increase the presence of women at all levels and levels of our organization, compared to 2020”.
“At ME Elecmetal South America we value the inclusion of women in our different work environments, as their presence adds competencies and a different perspective,” Rodrigo Ogalde, People Management Manager, ME Elecmetal South America.
“The EEO standard allows us to ensure fairness, equality and diversity in the workplace”, Michele Bryan, Human Resources VP, ME Global.
“We must take steps to encourage and recognize women working in this industry,” Sherry Zhou, Director Human Resources, ME China.
The expected benefits for the client are the improvement of the entire supply chain in terms of greater incorporation of female talent and diversity for their teams, as well as mobilizing the industry from real changes in the value chain and fostering innovation in the creation of solutions.
It is not easy in this sector to incorporate more women; we must anticipate our presence as a hiring company as a valuable training space of future professionals and technicians.
Labor diversity, and specifically the participation of women, has been addressed in the different operations of ME Elecmetal, as described below:
Chile, ME South America
With a 12% presence of women in South America, the HR area is in a diagnostic stage regarding the presence of women in the company, along with Comunidad Mujer, after a gap report that has been prepared during the year 2023, which continued with the development of an action plan.
In addition, in the context of the commemoration of Women’s Day, a workshop was given by Natalia Duco, entitled “Women in the Company”, which convened ME Elecmetal employees and their families. Duco is a Chilean Olympic athlete, specialized in shot-put. Her talk looks forward to tell the story of the road she has traveled to get ahead in a male world.
Also, in March 8th, female collaborators from Peru, Antofagasta, Santiago and Rancagua received a gift in recognition of their day-to-day contribution.
United States, ME North America
In the case of the Tempe and Duluth operations, which have an average female presence of 8.1%, and have subscribed to the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Practices, which integrate aspects such as unbiased hiring, promotion, compensation, and training, among other work processes.
EEO establishes as a principle that all individuals should have equal access to employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information. In other words, through EEO, fair, equitable and diverse work processes are ensured in the workplace.
Changzhou, ME China
In the case of the operation in China, there is an 11% participation of women, so they have implemented different practices to promote the increase of female talent.
For this year’s 8M commemoration, an activity was carried out in addition to the presentation of a gift, either on Women’s Day itself or the day before, depending on the shifts.
But the activities with women are not limited to this date, in fact, there are different milestones each year in which the participation of professional women, operators and workers is encouraged.
