Mente Mujer: Women make up 70% of jobs in Zakua

Mexican company produces electric vehicles in puebla branded Zakua. These are high-quality compact models that not only do not pollute the environment, but also stand out because most of its staff is made up of women, including on the assembly line.

“We aim to include women in a sector that is dominated by men,” said Nazareth Black, CEO of the company.

In an interview for Herald of Mexicothe directive explains that women raised their hands to carry out tasks that were normally assigned to the male sex, and for this reason they decided to open places for female workers.

“It wasn’t planned, it happened when we opened the factory, but we started being classified as assemblers who only make cars with women, which is not the case, we try to be inclusive,” he said.

Zakua is the first Mexican manufacturer of electric vehicles, it was founded in 2017 but opened its assembly plant in Puebla in mid-2018 with the idea of ​​joining the automotive industry’s transition to green energy for the environment.

“The project has 22 years of work, although it is new to the public, but it arises from the idea to contribute to the solution of mobility problems due to traffic and pollution,” said the CEO of the automobile firm.

He commented that the pandemic forced them to close the plant, so they had to design and develop disinfection equipment with automated technology to avoid layoffs, but they have delivered more than 50 vehicles to date.

The plant currently has the capacity to turn out nine cars a day, but demand is still low and they produce an average of one model a day.

AT Zakuaa striking sporty compact car and the technology behind it were developed by a team of female engineers.

“We do not treat the issue of hiring women as a rivalry, but rather part of the company’s philosophy, it is a matter of including giving space to women and a matter of fairness in which women can aspire to the same jobs that they have a safe working environment without having to giving or doing something in return to get a job or a promotion, and above all, to work without belittling the person,” Black said.

He added that they aim to have a workforce that is half male and the other 50 percent female. “If we put aside the man, we will fall into the same thing as machismo,” he said.

The directive stated that women have special characteristics that allow them to excel in work in an assembly plant, “there are skills that one gender or another brings, in the case of women, they regularly have a family and must take care of their home and her work, so women developed the ability to do several things at the same time, it’s kind of more revolutionary, and if you transfer it to the car, if you notice a difference with men.

Empty She said she has been in the industry for over 20 years and when she started it was very difficult for the sector to accept her because she was a woman: “I started working in the automotive industry when I was 20 and the treatment I received was very vile, now they recognize me as an effort, but at first it was very difficult, ”he emphasized.

His efforts in the automotive industry are now taking him to other countries as Zakua shares its business model by developing factories in countries Africa D Latin Americawith local partners.

“We have several proposals for the export of cars, but we prefer to develop factories in interested countries, since the export of cars from Mexico will lead to more pollution during transportation by sea, which is contrary to our principles of sustainable development of the company,” he said. said.

DATA

• Zacua is the first electric car with 100% Mexican capital.
• The company is owned by a Mexican parking operator company (Copemsa).
• 40 people make up the workforce.
• It currently has two two-seat models.
• The cost of cars starts from 599 thousand 900 pesos.
• The car has a top speed of 85 km/h.
• A full battery allows you to drive 160 kilometers.