ArcelorMittal’s D&I policy: how the Ukrainian company implements the principles of gender equality

In the conditions of a full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, women are increasingly in demand in the iron and steel industry

The principles of diversity and inclusion, improving gender diversity, and leadership are among the core values of ArcelorMittal. The group’s HR strategy is structured in such a way that the corporate Diversity & Inclusion Policy is declared and implemented regardless of the location of the company’s enterprises. This strategy of equal opportunities for development and growth is fully adhered to by the Ukrainian division.

Before the full-scale invasion of Russia, the ratio of men to women at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih was 70:30. After the start of the great war, this proportion changed. As of May of this year, the representation of women has increased to 33% (the company currently employs more than 16 thousand people). Currently, 240 women hold managerial positions (administrative, production, and line managers).

Due to the war and population migration, many Ukrainian enterprises – and ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is no exception – are experiencing a shortage of staff. In particular, about 15% of the company’s employees are currently mobilized to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. One of the ways ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is trying to overcome this crisis is to attract young people, and another is to work with women.

We are currently striving to provide more opportunities for both categories, and we are gradually breaking down the stereotype that the mining and metals industry is a male domain. We have many successful examples of women mastering «purely male» professions. For example, we are currently hiring steelmaker’s assistants and female maintenance staff (welders, electricians, repairmen). The Ukrainian division is currently working to increase this pool of offers by recruiting women for driving jobs, etc.

The company creates every opportunity for a woman to take any position. The only thing is her desire to come to work here and master her chosen profession or undergo appropriate retraining. We have our own personnel training center, which provides training in any working profession. Its duration depends on the candidate’s primary education and professional skills and can take from several weeks to six months. Our slogan is «If you don’t know how, we’ll teach you,» and we put it into practice. Last year, a total of 2,936 women were trained and retrained in various areas at the enterprise.

In the process of recruiting staff and inviting candidates, we emphasize that ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has equal opportunities for employment, as well as for mastering other professions and career growth. For example, as part of a PR campaign in the city to inform about open positions at our steel plant, we posted posters with both men and women. In this way, we demonstrated that the mining and metals industry is not only a male domain.

The case of the Ukrainian company is also interested in terms of women’s mentoring and women’s coaching – such proposals came from the parent company even before the great war. However, when we interviewed our staff, we found that women did not have an urgent need for such programs, they preferred to participate in those with equal gender representation and different voices. However, we may revisit this issue as part of our monitoring of certain training programs, such as women’s driver training.

Today, one of our goals as part of our corporate D&I policy is to increase the number of women employed at the company. In addition, as part of the activities aimed at career guidance for young people, in which we participate, we want to convince the future generation to choose technical specialties not only for boys but also for girls. Another goal is to increase the number of women in management positions in production units.

Arcelor Mittal’s Ukrainian division has been organizing the Women’s Leadership Forum for two years in a row – the first one was held in March 2023. This event, which is in line with the company’s D&I policy, has twice brought together about 200 women leaders from ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih and its subsidiaries. The forum includes coaching sessions and panel discussions, where not only representatives of the company, but also from other areas such as business, the public sector, and the military share their experience. In particular, this year one of the speakers was volunteer Vira Barlit, and last year it was the head of the logistics service, junior lieutenant Olena Pantiukh. We receive positive feedback on this forum. Our women leaders also represent the Kryvyi Rih enterprise at similar events at the national level.

Women from ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih are also joining the world’s largest sporting event, the Olympic Games in France, which will take place this summer. Oksana Afanasyeva, an employee of our enterprise and a volunteer, is among the participants in the torch relay, which will involve 10,000 torchbearers. She will carry the sporting flame on July 30. By the way, the torches are made of ArcelorMittal steel with a reduced carbon content. A woman, Antonina Kravchenko, a chemical analysis laboratory assistant at our coke and chemical production facility, also won the draw for tickets to the Olympics.

One of the features of the D&I policy for the company’s Ukrainian business is the adaptation of employees returning from service in the Armed Forces. Such cases are almost unheard of for the Group’s companies in other countries, but this issue – the return of veterans to their workplace and their adaptation to civilian life – is currently very acute in Ukraine. To date, 298 people have returned from the war to ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.

In terms of inclusiveness, we try to comply with the state standard of 4% of people with disabilities, but a steel company does not always have such opportunities. However, if such a candidate or a war veteran who has been disabled or partially disabled as a result of the war decides to work for us, the company adjusts jobs to their needs and creates remote workplaces.