Committed to gender equality and work-life balance

In line with its Sustainability Plan and the company’s Human Rights, Inclusion and Diversity policies, SQM has played a leading role in recent years in gender equity, promoting greater participation and permanence of women at all levels of the organization. Thanks to this commitment, women account for more than 20% of its workforce, surpassing the national mining industry average (17%), and the company has set a goal of 25% by 2025.

Under this premise, SQM’s corporate building in Santiago earned Standard 3262 Certification for Gender Equality and Work-Family-Personal Life Balance. This voluntary standard calls for implementing a Management System for Gender Equality and Balance (SIGIGC), making efforts to balance work, family and personal life a shared accountability within organizations.

“This certification marks a before and after, as we begin to establish elements to generate spaces of greater inclusion in order to hire more women and carry out other initiatives to take on challenges that go beyond what we have achieved now. At SQM, we are clearly convinced that a sustained increase in the number of female employees involves balancing work, family and personal life, in order to retain female employees for longer and help them develop their careers, as well as to generate opportunities for them to reach management and decision-making positions,” commented Barbara Blümel, SQM’s Deputy Manager of Talent Attraction and Diversity.

The executive added that “one of the key components of the internal process for earning certification was co-accountability. Together with the company’s workers, we carried out different actions to cement a cultural change in this regard, where it was and will continue to be key to inform, sensitize and raise awareness of the importance of effective co-accountability in terms of the role of women and men in society, and to enable all family members to pursue personal and professional development.”

This important achievement allowed us to make significant progress towards the Iguala Conciliación Seal, awarded by the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality, positioning us as an industry leader in this important area.

The company’s commitment to gender equality and balancing work, family and personal life goes beyond figures, since incorporating women into the industry implies a real commitment and ongoing dialogue between the public and private sectors, which allows us to detect gaps and establish the necessary incentives to achieve permanent inclusion of women, with high potential for growth and development. This is a cultural change that will be a major contribution in and of itself, while also strengthening household economies and building a fairer and more egalitarian society.