Borçelik: Our Greatest Strength

“We see our human resources as our greatest strength.” Worker well-being is a crucial part of creating a sustainable industry. This means not only ensuring a healthy and safe working environment, but also providing the care, opportunities, and respect that every individual deserves and needs in order to thrive. Derya Demirer, Director of Human Resources and Corporate Communications for Borçelik, discusses the strides the company is making to promote equality, support professional growth, and put worker well-being first.

Borçelik, a special collaboration between Borusan Group, a leading conglomerate in Turkey, and ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel producer, proudly stands as Turkey’s biggest galvanized flat steel producer. We wholeheartedly embrace and endorse Borusan Group’s sustainability vision, which revolves around three key pillars: climate, people, and innovation. At Borçelik, we integrate initiatives aligned with these focal points into our core business operations, ensuring a holistic and responsible approach to our endeavours.

The Borçelik Technical Academy (BTA), established with the aim of supporting the professional development of Borçelik employees, is deeply committed to creating value for society. It welcomes individuals who are eager to enhance their expertise in the fields of metal, machinery, transportation, logistics, communication, chemistry, petroleum, rubber, and plastics. Moreover, BTA dedicates itself to designing a unique curriculum for technical high school students, empowering students to become highly skilled professionals and promoting diversity in the industry.

Gender equality holds immense significance for us at Borçelik. We are proud to lead the way in introducing innovative initiatives for our industry in Turkey. One such initiative is our “No Job Too Tough for Women” project, implemented in collaboration with the BTA, which establishes a comprehensive programme to enable female employees to work in the predominantly male-dominated steel industry.

Furthermore, we actively engage in the Gender Lens initiative as a key participant within Borusan Group’s Equal Borusan Platform. Through this initiative, we implement a wide range of practices to foster gender equality. These include offering private health insurance with maternity coverage to both male and female employees, ensuring uninterrupted utilization of maternity and paternity leave, providing support programmes for maternity and postnatal care, granting leave on important occasions like the first day and last day of school for colleagues with children, organizing well-being activities, implementing hybrid work arrangements, and establishing an accessible Ethics Line to report any gender equality violations.

We also offer childcare assistance to our female employees with children aged 0-66 months. Moreover, we engage in the Borusan Equality School project initiated by the Borusan Group, which aims to raise awareness about equality. Through continuous gender equality-focused training programmes, we strive to foster awareness and understanding both within and beyond our company.

At Borçelik, we remain dedicated to our sustainability endeavours, focusing on climate, people, and innovation. We prioritize the well-being of individuals and embrace the concept of “Inspiring the Future by Inspiring the World.” Our dedicated efforts revolve around fostering the healthiest and safest work environments for our workers. Recognizing our workforce as our greatest asset, we have developed comprehensive programmes to enhance their competencies and promote their overall welfare. Central to our approach is the utilization of cutting-edge technology to continuously improve working conditions and establish a secure atmosphere within our facilities.

Through innovative solutions, we strive to create a workplace that ensures the safety and satisfaction of our employees. We are committed to conducting inspiring projects that set the benchmark across the industry.

By Derya Demirer, Director of Human Resources and Corporate Communications, Borçelik

Derya Demirer is an experienced Human Resources Professional who has an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering. Her areas of expertise includes performance management, talent and career management, organisational design and diversity and inclusion studies. She is currently working for Borçelik as Human Resources and Corporate Communications Director.