Red Cross, Eulen Flexiplán and Smurfit Kappa join forces to end gender gap in cardboard sector
Within its Equality Plan, Spanish firm Smurfit Kappa has launched a course for factory operators in Córdoba through Eulen Flexiplán and in collaboration with the Red Cross, to train 15 women with different profiles to work in projects promoted by the Red Cross Employment Plan, such as Bridges to Employment, Itineraries That Add Up, Job Challenge + 45, and Get closer. The objective is enable these women to enter a traditionally male world, such as that of corrugated cardboard packaging, and thus end the gender gap that exists in this sector.
“Besides seeking to provide these women with a job, which is the main objective we pursue, the importance of initiatives like this lies in the joint attempt by three entities to break gender barriers in a traditionally masculine sector,” said Nicoletta Comito, provincial head of the Spanish Red Cross Employment Plan in Córdoba.
Among these 15 women of different ages are some who have been victims of gender violence, others with difficulties in accessing employment due to gender barriers
Mariola Hernangómez, head of the technical headquarters of Eulen Formación in Eulen Flexiplán, said, “This type of job placement project, where three large organisations come together and share our best ways of being and doing, allow us to move forward with firm steps towards an effective and real equality of women and men in sectors as masculinized as corrugated cardboard.”
Antonio Jiménez, a partially retired supervisor at Smurfit Kappa and with extensive knowledge in the corrugated cardboard sector, is in charge of imparting the theoretical training of the course, focused on safety, and of carrying out the visit to the Córdoba plant scheduled for this first part of training. Then, on August 3, the practical phase began at the Andalusian factory, endorsed by the Red Cross and Eulen Flexiplán, which lasts 50 hours. There, these 15 women had the opportunity to rotate through different jobs both in the corrugator and in their conversion part.
Carlos Lijó, manager of Smurfit Kappa Córdoba, said,
“For us it is very important to promote the integration of women with little experience in the market and with different social problems and, at the same time, break the cultural barrier that exists in the sectors productive, through pioneering initiatives in the corrugated cardboard sector such as this course that we have launched with the Red Cross and Eulen Flexiplán. The objective is to help them work in an area that, due to history and culture, has until now been dominated mostly by men. It is in our power to change this trend and, for this, within our Equality Plan, we work to achieve it.”
The women who successfully complete the course will become part of Smurfit Kappa’s floating staff and will gradually be incorporated into the company’s permanent staff based on their human resources needs.
