'Women Power' is coming to life as the new social responsibility project initiated by OPET - the innovative and pioneer organization of the fuel oil sector - as aimed for "women employment" that is one of the most important subjects on Turkey's agenda. The protocol signature ceremony of the project prepared through the collaboration of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and OPET as aimed to increase women employment at OPET stations was held at a meeting attended by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security Jülide Sarıeroğlu, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak, İŞKUR General Director Cafer Uzunkaya, Koç Holding Energy Group Chairperson Yağız Eyüboğlu, OPET General Manager Cüneyt Ağca and OPET Board of Directors’ Member Filiz Öztürk. OPET that has reviewed the human resources processes at its stations within the scope of the project aims to have at least two woman employees at each station.
OPET, operating with a vision to make a contribution in forming a better informed society by adopting education, health, environment and historical values, is initiating a new project to alter the social perception and offer equal opportunities to women in work life: “Women Power at OPET” Project. The signature ceremony of the project prepared through the cooperation of OPET, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security as aimed to increase women employment at OPET stations was held in Ankara on May 24.
The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak, who spoke at the ceremony, said “This year has been an important and good year with respect to women employment. I believe that the "Women Power Project", implemented by OPET that is one of the reputed and important firms of out sector, will make a very significant contribution in this process we have initiated. The world is changing, technology is changing, trends are changing, but the actual change has to be in our minds. That is when we can move a step further. And, our sector is one of the sectors that suffer the most from these wrong perceptions. Energy is known as a male dominant sector for years. We need woman employees that break the sexist rules in the energy sector and set an example for the youth. According to the researches, efficiency and profitability are higher in companies where women assume active roles. It is know that companies, which are included in the Fortune 500 list and have a high ratio of women within their organizations, generate 34 percent more revenues as compared to the others. The world is changing, management understandings are changing, and it is now time for us to break the glass ceilings and eliminate sexist prejudices and learned helplessness. We will collectively lay the foundations of an energy sector where the gender balance is ensured with the projects we will implement to increase women employment through the synergy of the public and private sector. I would like to congratulate OPET and the Koç Group management, hope that this project, which will serve as a role model for our sector, becomes even stronger and is beneficial for our sector.”
The Minister of Labor and Social Security Jülide Sarıeroğlu noted the following: “Today we are implementing an important leg of a process we have initiated regarding the work life in order for women to be more active and effective in all areas, which we really value very much and have been working on for a long time. I would like to thank OPET and the Koç Group very much for their initiative and sensitiveness for including women in work life. Turkey will be stronger if the women are strong. Our country's development and growth will be stronger if women are active in all areas of life. We are taking firm steps in the sense of empowering women by revolutionary arrangements, and are strengthening this process even further through strong partnerships and collaborations. The increase of woman employees in a male dominant sector will make significant contributions in working life. The inclusion of 3500 more women in work life under the roof of OPET, through their employment both at the stations and at headquarters level of an important group, serving almost everywhere in Turkey, until 2019 is very important. It is our heart's desire to extend this perspective even further in the entire work life...”
OPET Board of Directors' Member Filiz Öztürk, who took the floor at the ceremony, pointed out to the significance of women employment in Turkey and said: “We intend to increase the participation of women in the labor force and ensure that they strengthened both economically and socially by this project. According to the made researches, especially efficiency and profitability increase in companies where women assume active roles. We are observing that women are also very successful in jobs such as fuel sales representative, station manager, which were perceived as male jobs so far, at our stations. As we have seen in the film we watched at the beginning, we currently have more than 1500 female employees at our stations. Now, we are making a brand new start with the support of our ministries, and want to increase female energy and labor at our stations with our project we have named ‘Women Power’... We are designing our “Women Power” project in a sustainable and result focused manner as a social responsibility project. Our objective is to increase the number of woman employees at all our OPET and Sunpet stations and see at least two women at each station. By 2020, we aim to add 3,500 more to the number of our female station employees, which we have increased within a very short time with the support of our dealers. We believe that our project will lead to a significant change not only in OPET but also in our society.”
The cooperation protocol prepared between İŞKUR General Directorate and OPET was signed by İŞKUR General Director Cafer Uzunkaya and OPET General Manager Cüneyt Ağca at the meeting. It will be ensured that OPET dealers benefit from the İŞKUR employment incentives during the recruitment processes of the Women Power project, and special training and career development programs will be prepared.
OPET, operating with more than 1500 fuel stations in Turkey, aims to eliminate occupational gender and increase the number of woman employees at fuel stations with the project that will be conducted in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. OPET aims to review the human resources processes at the fuel stations and ensure that there are at least two female employees at each station within the scope of the project, and offer employment opportunities for women in different positions such as sales assistant, station executive, shift supervisor, accounting staff. There currently are 1541 woman employees at OPET stations spread throughout Turkey. It is planned to employ 3500 more woman employees in total, as at least two women station employees at each OPET station, until 2020 with the Women Power Project.
