At Metinvest, they understand that its tens of thousands of employees are the company's core pillar. That is why, since the outbreak of the war, Metinvest has turned assistance to employees and their families into a separate area of work that meets their basic needs, with a particular focus on thousands of employees mobilised to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Security and protection
First and foremost, Metinvest protected its employees by equipping bomb shelters at its enterprises with all the necessary supplies. Despite the fighting, the company evacuated around 20,000 residents from Mariupol and Avdiivka. To provide people with shelter, Metinvest prepared more 6,00 temporary housing places and provided employees with basic necessities and medicines. As part of the Home for Our Own corporate project, employees provided housing for displaced colleagues, and Metinvest reimbursed the costs. The company is also helping employees from Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih to repair their homes damaged by Russian shelling.
More than 8,000 Metinvest employees are defending Ukraine, essentially translating to one in every six workers. The company ensures they are equipped with bulletproof vests, helmets and winter clothing kits. Upon request, employees receive pick-up trucks, drones, mobile shelters, thermal imagers and other equipment to help them defeat the enemy.
Physical and psychological rehabilitation
Metinvest pays for the treatment of every mobilised and civilian employee who is seriously injured. It also helps employees who lost limbs in the war with prosthetics. The joint programme of the company and Protez Hub involves 60 people, 20 of whom have already received prostheses worth up to €30,000 and undergone rehabilitation.
Metinvest's female employees, spouses and children of employees with war traumas can undergo psychological rehabilitation. The company joined the Masha Foundation's Unbreakable Mum programme. Around 300 mothers and their children have already received help.
Metinvest has launched the Strong Generation Camp programme to support the mental health of the children of its employees. This summer, 400 children affected by the war participated in the programme. Specialists from the psychological support service "Metinvest Together!" help Metinvest's employees and their families cope with stress and have provided around 4,100 consultations already.
Retraining and employment
Since the outbreak of the great war, the company has employed around 8,200 people at its facilities in Pokrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih and Kamianske, including people from Mariupol and Avdiivka. Metinvest also provides employees with the opportunity to receive free retraining in the professions sought after by the enterprises, including at Metinvest Polytechnic University.
In addition, this summer, the company found an opportunity to introduce an additional bonus for employees of production and repair facilities in Ukraine. It can reach up to 25% of the salary per month, depending on performance.
"Metinvest’s core pillar is our team, thanks to which we are moving forward despite all the crises," believes Yuriy Ryzhenkov, the company's CEO.
Likewise, every member of the Metinvest team knows that they can count on the company. Mutual support has become the law of corporate life at a time of war and helps both the company and its employees deal with the hardships of war.