PARTICIPATION RATE OF WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE IN SMART ENERGY IS CLOSE TO 50 PERCENT

The Chairman of the Board of Smart Energy, Halil Demirdağ, drawing the attention to that the renewable energy sector which has achieved a remarkable growth in a short time in Turkey has created employment opportunity for 60 thousand people, underlined that the solar energy sector includes significant opportunities for the participation of women in the labor force. Demirdağ, stating that the rate of the female employees is close to 50 percent in Smart Energy with the principle of “equal opportunities”, said “22 key points of 33 stations in our factory are under the management of women. In certain departments, the employment rate of the women is over 65 percent.”.

 
One of the most important problems of our country is unemployment and creating new employment areas. According to the data of TUIK (Turkish Statistical Institute), there are 62 million 119 thousand people who are at and over the age of 15 in Turkey as of February 2020. However, more than half of this population, i.e. 31 million 137 thousand people, is not included in the labor force. The Chairman of the Board of Smart Energy, being one of the global actors of the solar energy sector, Halil Demirdağ, attracted the attention to the importance of the equality of opportunity in the working life by saying “In the world, the rate of participation in the global labor force is 63 percent for women and 94 percent for men. If any country will prosper, all people, whether female or male, must contribute to the economy. A country’s being more reliable, more powerful and more developed with its economy and social life is based on the equality of opportunity.”.
 
Demirdağ, responding the queries of TWRE (Turkish Women in Renewables and Energy) – Turkish Women Group of Renewable Energy Sector, which is the first and only “Gender Equality” initiative in Turkey, gave information about the recent developments regarding the employment in the solar energy sector. Demirdağ, expressing the developments regarding the increasing employment opportunities of Smart Energy in the employment policy and the solar energy sector at the meeting which was held online as open to the participation of the members, said: “The renewable energy sector which has not a very long history in Turkey, but which has covered lots of grounds within the recent years incorporates over 60 thousand people at the present situation. The creation of the new job opportunities for the young population in which the unemployment rate is 13.6 percent is of high importance in our country where this rate is approximately 24.4 percent. In this year, 1.5 million people are completing 29 and turning 30 in our country. This means that these people have to be involved in the employment. At least 1 million people, whether female or male, will look for a job. From this perspective, the production has to be supported. At this point, it is of high importance to pave the way for the domestic and national renewable energy sector for the creation of the new employment opportunities.”
 
WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN, THE FUTURE OF THE SOLAR ENERGY SECTOR IS MORE PROMISING
Demirdağ, who is also the Chairman of the Solar Energy Industrialists and Industry Association (GENSED), attracted the attention to the relation between the participation of women in the labor force and the economy at this point. Demirdağ, underlining that the solar energy sector offers a significant opportunity in this regard and saying “the solar energy sector is a sector that will pave the way for the employment of women even though the male employees dominantly work in the fields”, continued by saying: “While we are working for the development of this sector and contributing to its growth, we believe that the solar energy sector has a promising future with the participation of women. The potentials of women for creating new jobs are considerably high. We see that there remained no discrimination such as female-male even in the fields. We adopt the policy of equal opportunities. If we mention about the development and enrichment of a country, this will be possible only with the incorporation of all, whether female or male, in the economy.”.
 
Demirdağ, stating that the rate of the female employees is over the national average in Smart Energy which believes in the equality of opportunity and employs more than 400 people, said “The total rate of our female employees is around 47 percent. The rate of women among our blue-collar employees, on the other hand, is more than 50 percent”. Demirdağ, expressing that the women have the control of the management at 22 key points of 33 stations at their factories even though the rates differ by the departments, shared the following information: “We have handed over our R&D department to our female employees. In certain departments, the employment rate of the women is over 65 percent. In the quality department, many female employees of us take charge in the production. Caution is a very important issue in the solar energy sector, particularly in the panel production. At this point, we have confidence in women’s being more cautious and having higher concentration. We think that we have good fortune in this regard and we evaluate this fortune in the production. When we say that the solar energy sector must carry on its growth, the development of our country must be accelerated, our current deficit must be compensated, our unemployment rates must decrease, we are aware of the fact that this will be possible only with the participation of our women.”.