Equal opportunities
Women’s power in a male domain
Women such as Nadine Starkl and Rosarita Greco are the exceptions in our production operations. What’s it like for a woman to work in a male-dominated environment?
Nadine Starkl
A real go-getter – that’s the first impression you get when you meet Nadine Starkl. This young woman has been working on Vetropack’s production line in Kremsmünster for over ten years. She spent the first six years as a job change fitter with responsibility for the gob shears and gob distributors – the areas where things really heat up. From a very early age, she was absolutely certain that she wanted to learn a profession where she would use her hands and do physically demanding work – so she trained as a fitter.
It was more or less a foregone conclusion that her path would take her into a ‘male domain’ – all the more so, given that she enjoys working with men.
Today, she works as a batch supervisor: she oversees the batch store as well as handling acceptance of raw materials, cullet return, and troubleshooting. What does she most appreciate about her team? “You can ask anyone for help; your colleagues as well as your line managers have your back – and I think it’s wonderful that courses are available so you can continue your training,” Nadine Starkl replies.
What’s her tip for other women in ‘male domains’?
«Trust yourself and your own judgement, do what you enjoy doing, and don’t put up with anything!»
Rosarita Greco
Rosarita Greco also needed confidence when she started work as a hot end operator at Vetropack Italia last July. She’d previously been working in the Control and Quality Department at the cold end since autumn 2022. Then Vetropack suggested a move to the hot end. “I was hesitant at first,” Rosarita recalls. And people around her were also very sceptical about her chances of success. After all, they said, this was no job for a woman – it was far too tough. Nevertheless, as Rosarita explains, she took up the challenge and her colleagues’ doubts gradually vanished. “When I started, for example, I couldn’t even change a neck ring. Everything seemed impossible,” she recalls. “But I never gave up trying until I could do it.”
Work at the hot end can be strenuous and difficult, but if the overall conditions are right, all women can do the job with commitment and a good measure of determination – for example, if you assign a woman to work on a line where the moulds and blanks are not too heavy. Rosarita firmly believes this.
Deputy shift leader Antonio Di Dio is also satisfied with her work. He says emphatically: “She knows what needs to be done. She has a good knowledge of the procedures, and she always keeps to them.” Rosarita describes herself as a determined woman who enjoys challenges. Her new job meant she had to rethink some of the limits she imagined were holding her back. So her move to the hot end put her on track for personal growth as well as professional development. And she’s constantly learning new things.
“Although I’m now able to operate the machine myself, I still have a lot to learn. I start doing that every day when I begin my shift,” Rosarita says. And what’s more, she can rely on support from her colleagues to help her achieve her goal.
