The largest steel producer in Ukraine "Arcelor Mittal Krivoy Rog" forced to switch to hiring women, it became a matter of survival for the company. This statement was made in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper by the executive director of the plant Mauro Longobardo.
„If the mobilization continues, we will not have enough personnel to work,” he said. “We are talking about the very existence of the company here.“
According to the director, the management of the plant is "trying to break the paradigm according to which only men can do hard work". The recruitment strategy was initially aimed at replacing conscripts and the thousands of other workers who had moved to safer parts of Ukraine, but it had to be changed because now “hiring people has become very difficult,” Longobardo explained. He admitted that the enterprise serves as a permanent personnel reserve for the armed forces of Ukraine, with locomotive drivers, electricians and mechanics being the most sought after.
According to the FT, of the 18,000 workers at the plant, around 3,500 have been mobilized since the conflict began.In an attempt to attract staff, the company was forced to put up huge billboards in Kryvyi Rih depicting women in orange factory overalls.
The enterprise in Kryvyi Rih is the largest manufacturer of rolled products in Ukraine. The capacities are designed for the annual production of more than 6 million tons of steel, more than 5 million tons of rolled products and more than 5.5 million tons of pig iron. In 2022, the company's losses exceeded USD 1.3 billion.