Opinion: Vicuña's bet on training women as heavy equipment operators

This first Intensive Workshop for Integration and Cultural Strengthening was a highly significant starting point for Vicuña, led by the DEI Committee (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) with support and backing from the Community Relations Area.

It is part of the Comprehensive Support Program for Women at Vicuña, whose purpose is for women joining the mining operation not only to come on board, but to be able to stay, grow, and build their professional future.

The goal of these workshops is twofold: on one hand, to support the women training as heavy equipment operators, helping them build a stronger personal identity and giving them concrete tools to make sound decisions when facing the challenges of holding their ground in a historically male-dominated environment; on the other, to raise awareness among supervisors and teams around a work culture based on respect and inclusion, in line with a contemporary mining culture.

Vicuña's Comprehensive Support Program for Women.

This first group of women did not come together by chance: they were sought out and trained within a specific operator training and development process, led by Vicuña's local Training area, and framed within the work that the Community Relations area has long been driving and sustaining to strengthen women and local communities.

Irina Almonacid, Labor Relations Analyst at Vicuña.

The first session was held in Iglesia, and brought together our women, most of them from Iglesia and Jáchal, though also from the city of San Juan and from Guandacol. What remains, beyond each individual session, is a network of stronger women, equipped with more tools and confidence, and the beginning of a more inclusive organizational culture that we hope will continue to grow with each new group that joins.

By Irina Almonacid, Labor Relations Analyst at Vicuña.