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Speaking in London recently, at the largest worldwide gathering of maritime HR professionals, Bahri’s Chief Support Officer Hisham Alkhaldi highlighted the need to address the chronic under-representation of women in the maritime sector. Drawing attention to the fact that only 2% of seafarers worldwide are women and less than 1% occupy leadership roles in the industry, he said that it has become imperative for various stakeholders in the maritime industry to step up both concerted and individual efforts to address these challenges effectively and swiftly.
Alkhaldi commented: “Promoting women’s participation at work is critical not only for accelerating economic growth and sustainable development but also driving stronger bottom-line results for businesses. Similarly, a diverse workforce will lead to higher productivity and customer loyalty, and catalyse innovation, leveraging the perspectives and experiences of employees of different nationalities, and ethnicities.”
Alkhaldi described some of Bahri’s initiatives aimed at embracing diversity and inclusion across all aspects of its business, which has increased female participation in its workforce to 18% this year. The company has also teamed up with universities to develop programs that will help introduce students to the maritime sector and its services.
