PR94761

ISTANBUL, March 1, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

In cooperation with the UN Women's Generation Equality Forum, Koc Holding has

launched a gender equality movement in technology and innovation, mobilizing

its Group companies.

The companies are going to conduct 30 programs to reach out to a total of

500,000 women and girls and to increase the representation of women in

technology and innovation by 2026.

Koc Group companies leading in energy, automotive, consumer durables and

finance sectors, Aygaz, Arcelik, Ford Otosan, Kocfinans, Tofaþ, Tüpraþ,

TürkTraktör and Yapý Kredi, have announced their commitments to advance gender

equality in technology and innovation in Turkey over the next 5 years. The CEOs

of the respective companies introduced their road maps at a press conference in

Istanbul, stating their goals to boost the number of women employees in the

technology and innovation departments, setting minimum ratios to 30 percent.

They also announced further steps to increase girls' involvement to STEM

subjects throughout their learning journey, starting from primary, to high

school and university, in order to accelerate the social transformation in

Turkey. The companies are planning to implement 30 programs targeting students,

women entrepreneurs, employees, their families and a larger ecosystem of

stakeholders to reach out to a total of 500,000 people in 5 years.

Koc Holding has taken a leadership role in many gender equality campaigns both

in Turkey and on a global scale, including being a key signatory of the

Declaration on Equality at Work to the UN's HeForShe movement and the UN

Women's Empowerment Principles. The company is also one of the leaders in the

"Generation Equality Forum" initiated by UN Women.

Celebrating Koc Holding's raft of transformative new measures, Oya Ünlü Kýzýl,

Corporate Communications and External Relations Director at Koc Holding, said:

"The commitments of our companies include measurable targets and projects that

will contribute to the transformation of our colleagues, business partners and

society. It is essential that we expand the pool of women who will be working

in the design, production and management of technology and create an

environment that provides equal opportunities for women working in these

sectors. There is no doubt that the world needs technology, and technology

needs an equality perspective."

Considering the scale of the operations of the 8 companies operating in a

diverse set of sectors, the commitments will have a collective impact and

initiate a transformation in the community.

Commitments of automotive sector

- Ford Otosan and Tofaþ commits to increase the ratio of women working in

technology and innovation from 18 percent to 30 percent, while TurkTraktor's

target is to increase this rate from 36 percent to 50 percent. In addition,

Tofaþ commits to increase the number of women managers from 13 percent to 20

percent and TurkTraktor aims to increase the ratio of women in internship

programs to 50 percent in technology and innovation departments.  

- Ford Otosan is going to reach 100,000 women with projects that provide

training, learning and financial support to increase the number of women

employed in technology and innovation in the automotive sector.

- Tofaþ sets goals to reach 30,000 young women professionals, high school and

university students by 2026 to provide support and unlock opportunities to

participate in technology and innovation careers.

- TürkTraktör also plans to reach a total of 30,000 people through coaching,

mentorship and development programs, and provide internship and employment

opportunities.

Commitments of durable consumer goods sector

- In all of its global operations, Arcelik will increase the number of women

working in STEM from 16 percent to 35 percent.

- In cooperation with the Ministry of National Education, Arcelik will run

technology, design, information technologies and software courses and reach out

to 100,000 girls. In addition, the company will reach out to 5,000 women

through global entrepreneurship programs and facilitate the funds transfer of

$4 million dollars to women entrepreneurs. Arcelik will also expand its - You

are an engineer, You are with us – program to reach out to young women

engineers in Romania, Pakistan and South Africa to support their career

development.

- Beko will work to boost the number of women entrepreneurs in the retail

sector by increasing the rate of women dealers from 4.8 percent to 25 percent.

By enabling women to gain new professional competencies, Arcelik aims to

increase the rate of women technicians working at Arcelik and Beko Authorized

Services from 6.7 percent to 14 percent by 2026.

Commitments of energy sector

- Tüpraþ commits to increase the proportion of women employed in its R&D,

Innovation and Information Systems departments from 23 percent to 40 percent.

Tüpraþ will also strive to achieve a female employee rate of 50 percent in

overall recruitment.

- Aygaz will increase the rate of its women employees working in technology and

innovation departments from 13 percent to 35 percent, and women managers from

12 percent to 21 percent.

- Tüpraþ will reach a total of 100,000 girls, comprised of 90,000 secondary

school and 10,000 university students, through education and training programs

to tap into their potential and encourage them to participate in STEM-related

career fields.

- Aygaz commits to tackle gender inequality in the technology and innovation

ecosystem by reaching 100,000 women and girls from different age groups through

education, mentoring and scholarship programs.

Commitments of finance sector

- Yapý Kredi aims to increase the number of its women employees in technology

from 35 percent to 40 percent, and women managers from 22 percent to 27 percent

in the next 5 years.  Yapý Kredi Teknoloji, a subsidiary of Yapý Kredi, has

also set a target to ensure a more inclusive and diverse recruitment process

and will require at least one woman to be in every 3 short listed candidates.

- Kocfinans will maintain the 50 percent female employee rate throughout the

company in 2022, as well as to increase the female employee rate from 40

percent to 50 percent in technology and innovation.

- Yapý Kredi sets targets to reach a total of 20,000 women entrepreneurs

through customized financial products and services designed for women

entrepreneurs and to reach 80,000 women and girls to provide special trainings

and support them gain technical competencies.in technology.

- Kocfinans will offer scholarships, mentorship and internship programs to

women and girls, with a focus on university students in remote areas through

collaborations with universities and non-governmental organizations.

About Koc Holding

Dating back to 1926, Koc Holding, one step ahead of change at all times, has

become one of the largest and most successful groups in Turkey and in the

region and the only Turkish company to be listed in Fortune Global 500 list. As

of today, Koc Holding is Turkey's leading investment holding company and Koc

Group is Turkey's largest industrial and services group in terms of revenues,

exports, number of employees, taxes paid and total market capitalization on

Borsa Istanbul. Koc Holding has leading positions with strong competitive

advantages in energy, automotive, consumer durables and finance sectors, which

offer strong long-term growth potential. Creating long-term sustainable value

for the world and the societies in which the Koc Group operates, lies at the

heart of its business model.

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Source: Koc Holding