The work of Ukraine’s largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal, is under threat due to mobilization

The operations of Ukraine’s largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal in Kryvyi Rih, are under threat due to mobilization.

This was stated by the plant’s executive director, Mauro Longobardo, in an interview with the Financial Times.

“If they continue the mobilization, we will not have enough staff to operate. We are talking here about the company’s existence,” said Longobardo.

Since the start of the war, 3,500 out of the plant’s 18,000 employees have been mobilized, but with the new mobilization law, “even more are likely to follow.” Every week, someone from the mobilized employees of the plant dies at the front.

As a result, the company has had to hire women en masse. ArcelorMittal has put up billboards around Kryvyi Rih featuring women in the plant’s orange overalls with slogans like “Here, women truly run everything!”

Previously, women at ArcelorMittal mostly worked in administrative roles, but “now they are increasingly taking on more physically demanding roles.” Hiring men is more difficult because, by law, they must first register with the military, “which discourages many potential candidates.”

The plant has regularly lost locomotive engineers, electricians, and mechanics to the army. Initially, this was done centrally through ArcelorMittal’s management, but then recruiters began standing at the plant gates at the start of shifts, “prompting some employees to go home and stay away from the company.”

Due to the mass mobilization, the plant has been forced to cut production, including steel used to protect energy facilities from Russian airstrikes. The reduction in production has also led to decreased profits and government tax revenues, Longobardo added.