New Delhi,7March 2024: Ahead of International Women’s Day 2024, Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, has launched #TheFutureOfMetAL, acompellingsocial media campaign on women in metals & mining. It leverages generative AI and short films to encourage more women to explore rewarding careers in these industries.The campaign comes as a response to industry efforts to increase female representation in the sectors, which has progressed slowlylargely due to entrenched biases and a lack of suitable role models.
The #TheFutureOfMetALcampaign creatively tackles this challenge in twoways. Firstly, it positions the overall industry as an attractive destination for early-career women professionals.Secondly, it also presents a‘slice of life’glimpse of those already managing core operations at Vedanta Aluminium, highlighting strong role models from the company’s own employees to help more women visualise what a career in the industrywould look like. Through these campaigns, Vedanta Aluminium aims toaccelerate towards its goal of having women comprise at least a third of all its employees in the near future.
The first part of the campaign, titled ‘Women of Mettle’, presents a series of short filmsfeaturing young women professionals performing crucial roles at Vedanta Aluminium. Uniquely in India, they are going a step further by working in the night shift, on an equal footing with male colleagues. The second part, titled ‘The Future Female Series’, features women professionals from core functions at the company, such as mine operations, metal production, power generation, plant management, and asset security. Using Generative AI technology, it depicts these employees transitioning from their current settings to a technologically advanced future, representing how these careers will remain aspirational even in the times ahead.
The narratives presented in the campaign are significant as women continue to be grossly underrepresented in themetals, mining and manufacturing sectors.These industries areexpected togrow exponentiallyowing to India’s rapid economic progress andthe accelerating energy transition globally, which calls for a metal-intensive future.Vedanta Aluminiumis also activelyexpanding its operations to cater to thisgrowing demand.Itwillresult in an explosion of new career pathwaysin these sectors.However, they face a widening talent gap, led by misconceptionsthat jobs in theseareasnecessitate physically intensive labour, which has in fact been negated with the introduction of technologies such as robotics and automation as well as improved processes.
In this context, #TheFutureofMetALpresents a more accurate picture of the manufacturing sector.Vedanta Aluminium already has an industry-leading number of women employees, and aims to ensure that 50% of all new hires are women. Those already on its rolls arefitting role modelswho could inspire innumerable others to explore careers in manufacturing. The campaign is therefore a uniquely creative ode to the increasing participation of women in an essential and fast-growing industry, leveraging the encouragingexperiencesof its women professionals to advocate for greater gender representation.
Sharing his views, Mr. John Slaven, CEO, Vedanta Aluminium said, “At Vedanta Aluminium, we are building an environment primed for high performance and innovation. Boosting female participation inour teamsprovides us withinvaluable access to a wider spectrum of opinions and perspectives. This in turn provides for well-rounded decision-making, enables us to cater to diverse markets and ensures superior customer service. Addressing the gender gapdoesn’t just make solid business sense, it also allows for equitable and sustainable growth.”
Vedanta Aluminium has deployedseveral initiatives to boost the participation of womenwithin its industry.It is the first in Odisha to deploy women employees in the night shift, expanding the number of opportunities available to them. In addition, the company has rolled outflexible working policiesto support its employeesat different life stages.They also reside in townships in close proximity to its plants, with access toworld-class amenities such as schools, hospitals, creches, places of worship, movie theatres, stadiums, swimming pools,recreation centres, gyms, and shopping complexes, all critical for a vibrant family and community life.
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