Press Release

Aurubis equal opportunity network Women4Metals wins HR Excellence Award 

An exceptional distinction for an exceptional initiative: Women4Metals, Aurubis’ initiative for advancing women, won first prize in the Diversity & Inclusion Management category of the Human Resources Excellence Awards 2023. Women4Metals (W4M) was honored for its innovative projects and one-of-a-kind commitment to making the metal industry more attractive for women. The HR Excellence Awards are the most significant honor for outstanding HR management in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Mercer management consultancy, which is supporting W4M in enhancing its professional profile, shared the award. 

W4M is an industry-specific initiative for advancing women in the metal industry. The network was founded by female Aurubis employees in 2019 with the goal of attracting more female staff to the company and to the traditionally male sector. Women are underrepresented in industrial companies, making up just under 16 percent of the workforce; this is true of the metal sector as well, where women account for 20 percent. Another W4M objective: to achieve equal opportunity for all employees. As such, the initiative has been open to supporters of all genders from the very beginning. 
 
In its short existence, the W4M team has initiated and realized a number of projects in the focus areas recruiting, career development, working conditions, and awareness. This has included diversity action days, the analysis of female employees’ working conditions at all Aurubis production sites, consulting among colleagues, training programs, and representation of the initiative at industry events and conferences. 

Aurubis CEO Roland Harings said at the award ceremony in Berlin. “The issues the network addresses are as relevant as ever. Offering equal opportunity to everyone plays a key role in every company’s future success. We also want to make our industry more attractive for women. Our objective is to draw more women to the metal industry.” 

“Women4Metals is a groundbreaking HR initiative,” explained Laura Zielinski, Head of Human Resources. “Women’s empowerment and equal opportunity for all employees are an absolute must for those who want to attract the talents of tomorrow and retain good people. The work of Women4Metals is making a clear contribution to the Aurubis brand among job applicants and employees.” 

At Aurubis, the network now has over 300 registered members, 70 percent women and 30 percent men. The initiative has also been open to other companies and organizations in the sector since 2022, and more than 60 are currently interested in being involved with W4M. Furthermore, the W4M team networks with similar initiatives worldwide.  

The HR Excellence Awards (HREA) recognize special achievements in 33 categories of HR management. The jury’s criteria encompass innovation, creativity, implementation in the company strategy, results and efficiency, and the effectiveness of the project/campaign. This year, the jury included more than 40 experienced HR experts and supervisors. The awards are sponsored by Quadriga Media Berlin GmbH and the Human Resources Manager trade magazine.