A fourth-panel discussion was held on the third day of EGYPS 2023 activities during the Equality in Energy entitled “lightning talks and audience Q&A. It has mainly discussed the digital future, and opportunities for gender equality in employment and wages, in addition to creating a fair, diverse, and inclusive culture for a greener future.
Fatema Choudhury, Chief Operating Officer at Magellan X, said that the energy sector is increasingly moving towards digital transformation, and the results and consequences of the changes within the energy sector must be taken into consideration.
She elaborated that the technology helps reduce environmental impacts in the energy sector.
She pointed out the necessity to pay attention to social and environmental responsibility activities in the digital era, besides building a society based on equality and justice.
She added that “looking at the energy sector future, we can say that we have to explore how to prepare in the ideal way to confront challenges and grasp promising opportunities, which will be through focusing on discovering new technology and business models.
Choudhury pointed out that digital development is transforming ways of living and working, stressing the importance of the energy sector being ready with the necessary skills to keep pace with this digital era.
For her part, Juliette Murray Lamotte, Middle East, and North Africa Human Resources Manager at SLB discussed how to manage unconscious bias in salary and promotion, as SLB had a successful journey towards diversity and inclusion.
She said that the workforce is the pillar in all the company’s activities and all the desired goals, pointing out that the company’s activities to raise the efficiency of the workforce included providing appropriate education and training courses, providing a safe work environment, listening to employees and establishing constructive dialogues with them, in addition to dealing with clarity and transparency, setting goals, and provide guidance.
The company is keen on hiring qualified female cadres while regularly developing and evaluating their skills, focusing on gender equality concerning salaries and promotions. She also stressed that her company always conducts salary surveys to ensure equality.
While Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen, Regional Director of the UN-Women Office for the Arab States, stresses the importance of providing appropriate opportunities for women in the energy sector. She also noted that innovation is crucial for the introduction and establishment of clean energy. Diversity and inclusion should be top priorities for achieving innovation.
She added that when companies reviewed CVs, without displaying gender, women’s employment rates increased by 25%, explaining that recruitment companies played an important role in raising women’s employment rates in Arab countries.
