Yıldız Holding, which continues to focus on equal opportunities for a sustainable future, celebrated International Women’s Day on 8 March with its employees and stakeholders in its value chain. The 2024 Report announced by the Yıldız Holding Women’s Platform revealed the distance traveled in the transformation journey focused on equal opportunities.
Yıldız Holding, which has prioritized social benefit in all of its activities with the ‘Make Happy, Be Happy’ approach since its foundation, announced its efforts to increase the representation of women in business life and the concrete results achieved through these efforts at the 8 March International Women’s Day event held at Çamlıca Campus. At the event, which emphasized the importance of all stakeholders acting together in unity in the field of equal opportunities, the Yıldız Holding Women’s Platform’s 2024 Report and its successes shining like stars in equal opportunities and inclusiveness were shared. According to the data highlighted in the report, while the rate of female employees increased to 49 percent in 2024, Yıldız Holding became the first holding to receive the ‘EQUAL WAGE Certificate’ in the food and retail sector. Yıldız Holding has created an economic value of more than USD 10 million in the last three years with its projects supporting women’s entrepreneurship, while implementing projects such as ŞOK’ta Ben de Varım (I’m in ŞOK), Superfresh Women Stars of Agriculture, Ülker ‘More than Hazelnut – More than Cocoa’ to promote sustainable agricultural practices, support women farmers, and empower women economically. These efforts once again demonstrate Yıldız Holding’s determination to contribute to social transformation and strengthen equal opportunities.
Ali Ülker: A sustainable future is possible with women’s active participation in the business world
Delivering the opening speech of the event, Yıldız Holding Chairman Ali Ülker emphasized that strengthening the representation of women in business life is critical not only for economic growth but also for a more sustainable future. Ali Ülker said, ‘Yıldız Holding Women’s Platform carries out many impact programs that support women’s participation in the economy. These activities are not only limited to our companies but also spread throughout our value chain and promote equal opportunities throughout our ecosystem.’ Emphasizing that Yıldız Holding, as a leading organization in the food and retail sectors, bears an important responsibility in this regard, Ülker added, ‘We are taking concrete steps that go beyond our commitments. These projects benefit not only the business world but also society. We are delighted to be here today to share the concrete outputs of our equal opportunity-oriented efforts. I hope that these pioneering projects will inspire more organizations in the business world, and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all women, especially women in working life, on 8 March International Women’s Day.’
Begüm Mutuş: We are working with determination to improve our equal opportunity performance
In her speech, Begüm Mutuş, General Manager of Public Relations at Yıldız Holding and Women’s Platform Ambassador, announced the current data from the Women’s Platform’s 2024 report. Mutuş said: ‘Yıldız Holding Women’s Platform is now in its fifth year as a unique initiative in the private sector in Turkey. Since our establishment, we have had the opportunity to measure and evaluate our equal opportunity performance through the reports we publish every year. With the concrete steps we have taken in this area, we have succeeded in increasing the representation of women among our employees from 37 percent to 49 percent in the last 5 years. The ratio of senior female managers reached 35 percent and the ratio of female board members reached 22 percent. Yıldız Holding is also pioneering the rise of young women in science and technology by increasing the ratio of female employees under the age of 30 in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields to 52%. In addition to these successful results, the positive feedback we receive from the surveys we conduct among our employees encourages us to take steps to further improve our equal opportunity performance.’
Yıldız Holding’s positive workplace culture has been recognized by research
Yıldız Holding, which holds the title of Turkey’s Best Employer ‘Great Place to Work’ with its positive workplace experience based on trust, fairness, inclusiveness, diversity, and equality created by the company management, underlined its commitment to equal opportunities with this event. The ‘Work and Private Life Balance’ survey, conducted for the first time this year under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Fatma Ayanoğlu, Director of Marmara University Women’s Studies in Economic and Social Areas Application and Research Centre (ESKAR), with the participation of Yıldız Holding employees, once again demonstrated the success of inclusion and diversity policies and women-friendly practices.
Prof. Dr. Fatma Ayanoğlu: The research confirms the success of Yıldız Holding’s projects
‘Employee happiness is of great importance for the sustainability of employment and for companies to attract talents by creating a strong employer brand. The understanding of ‘Happy Employee, Successful Company’ in the business world is possible by ensuring a balance between work and private life. Research results reveal that Yıldız Holding has a strong human capital. The Holding’s human resources practices are successful in terms of good workplace practices such as proper recruitment and placement processes, flexible working hours, leave policies, and sufficient time allocated for social activities. In addition, according to international work-life balance indices, Yıldız Holding provides a balance that many developed countries strive to achieve.’
The guest speaker of the event was Melisa Tokgöz Mutlu, President of the Istanbul Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association, the only female member of the TIM Board of Directors. Mutlu shared with the participants her career journey as a successful female role model in the food sector and how she overcame difficulties in business life, and shared tips on maintaining work-life balance based on her own experiences.
At the event at Çamlıca Campus, Yıldız Holding companies shared the value they created together with their project stakeholders through social impact projects.