The company Vale Mozambique is investing to stimulate the empowerment of women in the workplace, where at the moment, about 10% of more than 3600 direct employees are female.
The mining company guarantees that it has always supported female empowerment in the workplace, maintaining the same policy for employees of subcontractors with the aim of striving for gender balance in the workplace and ensuring the same opportunities for both men and women.
In September 2020, Vale launched the “Mining for Women” project – which highlights the role of women in mining. Idealized and produced by women, the program includes short video episodes that show, in a more intimate way, narratives about the personal life, routine and trajectory of some of the company’s female workers in various countries around the world such as Indonesia, Oman, Switzerland, Canada and Brazil.
Renata Costa Zingre, Vale’s Country Manager in Switzerland, says she started out “as an analyst and opportunities came and went”.
Today she is also sales director for Europe and North America, which reveals a career marked by success. “There is a very big rite of sacrifice, but deep down I love my job,” she says.
In their testimonials, these women reveal talent and perseverance, but they guarantee that much of their success is due to the development opportunities provided by the company, investing in a policy supported by diversity and a healthy work environment.
These are journeys made through commitment, dedication and a great deal of professionalism. In Mozambique, too, Vale has a number of examples of female success and overcoming, following the premise of gender equality. And, increasingly, women are filling positions that were previously reserved only for men.
Marcela Costa, 37, is one such example of success. Supervisor of control processes at Moatize Mine, she leads a team made up of 32 employees, only three of whom are women.
The gender discrepancy in no way frightens her. She recognizes that men still have it easier, but she guarantees that the company where she has been working for a decade has given her the same opportunity as her colleagues of the opposite sex: “I feel they treat me the same way, I am an example of success, my path has always been upwards”. Octávio Rareque, 35, has been part of the team led by Marcela for a year. He is a process engineer and this is the first time he has a woman as a hierarchical superior.
He says he has no problem with it and even sees advantages in having “a woman boss”. “I think women have a more human side, they care more about the team”, he considers.
In all, between direct and indirect jobs, Vale employs around 13 thousand people. In the competitions it regularly launches, the company always encourages women to take part. The aim is to strengthen the gender balance in its teams, investing in training and female empowerment.
