site.btaWomen4Metals Initiative Supports Women in Metallurgy Industry

Women4Metals is a branch initiative of the leading global supplier of non-ferrous metals Aurubis, which began in 2019 and aims is to strengthen the role of women in metallurgy by encouraging and supporting them in the profession.  Founders Tanja Winter and Stefanie Klein presented the initiative at the Aurubis Bulgaria milk extraction plant in Pirdop, Southwestern Bulgaria. The event was opened by Tim Kurth, CEO of Aurubis Bulgaria and President of the German–Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Winter and Klein stressed that metallurgy is an industry that can give equal opportunities and provide greater visibility to women. Winter has been working in metallurgy since the age of 16. She added that from October 2022, Women4Metals network is open to other companies in the sector. 

Yanka Zaharieva, a hiring manager at  Aurubis Bulgaria, said that  the company has no issues regarding attracting women candidates. "In our region, women are not afraid of entering heavy industry and we have many units where they predominate," she explained, pointing out that workers in the purification units are 50/50 women and men. The company has a lot of female engineers, the research and development unit is mainly made up of women, the largest cranes are also operated by women, she added.

The Women4Metals initiative is an emanation of the idea that women have their equal place and that there is no industry that is not suitable for women, commented Iya Petkova, PhD, lecturer in the Department of Business Administration of the University and director of the Muzeiko Children's Science Centre. Petkova noted that in leadership positions, women and men perform equally well.

Employment Agency Deputy Director Milena Georgievapointed out that the labour market in Bulgaria manages to preserve its good traditions, and that women are in a a fairly good +on the labour market. She added that all active measures for greater employment are being implemented, and it is very important for the agency to monitor the experience of large employers in terms of the social activities they perform.

Tanya Gerginova, Public Affairs head at the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, pointed out that th more than 600 companies are members of the Chamber  and 60% of the contacts are women. In Germany, according to the latest statistics, women in management positions are 23%, while in Bulgaria this number is slightly higher, she noted.

Moritz Seiler, Head of the Economic Section at the German Embassy in Sofia, said that the industry in Germany can learn a lot from that in Bulgaria, especially  in the field of industry and in the IT field, and when it comes to of female employment and women occupying leadership positions in companies. Both countries have the opportunity to benefit from the cooperation in the European Union, Seiler added.