Image & Recruitment Actions in the Steel Industry
Attracting new talent is a key challenge for the European steel industry, particularly in the context of its green and digital transformation. Within SUPER, existing image and recruitment activities were reviewed and mapped to provide an overview of different approaches used across the sector. Building on previous work, particularly the ESSA Image and Talent Management Repository, the mapping was extended with further and more recent initiatives. The identified actions are grouped into three areas: Image, Talent Attraction & Employer Branding, School & University Outreach, and Diversity & Inclusion. In addition, the European Skills Alliances ESSA, SPIRE-SAIS and SKILLS4EII, which also address image and recruitment, are presented as a complementary perspective.
Image, Talent Attraction and Employer Branding
ArcelorMittal Poland – Community Engagement
Type: Community Engagement / Employer Branding / Corporate Responsibility
ArcelorMittal Poland engages with local communities around its production sites through social projects, events and ongoing dialogue. By addressing shared local challenges and maintaining close relationships with neighbouring communities, the activities strengthen the company’s regional presence, corporate responsibility and employer image.
Link: https://poland.arcelormittal.com/en/sustainability/our-support/community-engagement
ESTEP – AI-4 Steel Workshop
Type: Talent Attraction / Digital Transformation
The AI-4 Steel Workshop brings together stakeholders to explore AI applications, skills and digital transformation in the steel sector. By addressing innovative technologies and human-centred workplaces and combining knowledge exchange with an optional steel plant visit, the event showcases the industry’s technological transformation and future career environment.
ESTEP – Annual Events
Type: Talent Attraction / Student-Industry Networking
ESTEP Annual Events bring together the European steel community around research, innovation and the sector’s green and digital transformation. Dedicated student participation, networking opportunities and plant visits provide young participants with direct exposure to steel companies, researchers and industry developments.
RACE 2025 – Steel Edition
Type: Talent Attraction / Industry Engagement
RACE 2025 brought together students, graduates and early-career professionals for an immersive one-week programme focused on the transformation of the steel industry. Industry visits, expert training, real industrial challenges and a job fair provided direct exposure to steel companies, technologies and career opportunities.
SSAB – Mill Visits & Career Events
Type: Industry Engagement / Career Events
SSAB engages with students through career events and opportunities to visit its production sites. These activities provide direct insights into the steel industry, working environments and career opportunities, enabling students to meet SSAB representatives and experience the industry beyond the academic setting.
SSAB – Transforming the Future of Steel. Together
Type: Employer Branding / Recruitment
SSAB positions itself as a future-oriented employer by linking career opportunities with the transformation towards fossil-free steelmaking. The career platform addresses students, graduates and experienced professionals and highlights opportunities to contribute to innovation and a more sustainable steel industry.
Steel Sector Careers
Type: Sector Image / Talent Attraction
Launched as an EU communication and awareness-raising campaign, Steel Sector Careers aims to challenge negative perceptions of steelmaking and increase awareness of career opportunities in the sector. It highlights modern job profiles, skills requirements and career prospects to strengthen the attractiveness of steel for graduates and skilled workers.
thyssenkrupp Steel Europe – Green Steel: For the Climate / #nextgenerationsteel
Type: Image Campaign / Sustainability Positioning
The campaign presents the transformation towards climate-neutral steelmaking as a shared responsibility across generations. By connecting green steel production with employees, families and future generations, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe communicates the sector’s transformation in an emotional and accessible way and strengthens its image as a future-oriented employer.
thyssenkrupp – #GENERATIONTK
Type: Employer Branding / Recruitment
#GENERATIONTK presents thyssenkrupp as an innovative, diverse and future-oriented employer. Through employee stories and career communication, the campaign highlights opportunities for personal development, technological innovation and active participation in shaping change, while addressing applicants across different career stages.
UNESID / PLATEA – Jóvenes Innovadores de Acero (Young Steel Innovators)
Type: Talent Attraction / Sector Image
The campaign highlights young professionals contributing to innovation and transformation in the steel industry. Through authentic testimonials, it showcases career opportunities, sustainability and technological change, helping challenge traditional perceptions of steelmaking and attract younger generations to the sector.
voestalpine – #FavoriteMoments
Type: Image Campaign / Employer Branding
#FavoriteMoments highlights the role of voestalpine products in everyday life and the people behind them. Featuring employees as campaign ambassadors, it connects innovation, sustainability and personal moments while strengthening the company’s brand and its attractiveness to future employees.
voestalpine – #OurFavoriteThings
Type: Image Campaign / Employer Branding
The campaign puts voestalpine employees at the center, providing authentic insights into their work and the company’s contribution to modern and sustainable living. It highlights innovation, sustainability and the human side of the steel industry while positioning voestalpine as an attractive and future-oriented employer.
worldsteel – steelChallenge
Type: Competition / Talent Attraction
steelChallenge engages students and industry participants in a global steelmaking competition using steeluniversity simulators. Participants produce specified steel grades while balancing technical, carbon-footprint and cost requirements, providing an interactive way to explore steelmaking, sustainability and industrial decision-making.
Link: https://worldsteel.org/media/press-releases/2026/steelchallenge-21-registration-open/
worldsteel – Sustainability Charter
Type: Sector Image / Sustainability Positioning
The Sustainability Charter communicates the steel industry’s commitment to generating positive impacts on people, the planet and societal prosperity. It strengthens the sector’s sustainability narrative and supports the positioning of steel as a responsible and future-oriented industry.
School and University Outreach
AIST – Young Professional and Student Mentor Program
Type: University Outreach / Talent Attraction
The program connects materials science and engineering students interested in steel careers with young industry professionals. Through individual mentoring, students gain first-hand insights into career opportunities, professional development and the technological transformation of steelmaking, while building an early connection with the industry.
ArcelorMittal – School Plant Visits
Type: University Outreach / Plant Visit
ArcelorMittal welcomes university students to its production sites to provide direct insights into steelmaking and its applications. A recurring visit to the Belval plant combines exposure to industrial production with practical examples of steel construction, linking academic learning with real-world industry experience.
LIBERTY Steel Group – School Visit at LIBERTY Speciality Steels
Type: School Outreach / Plant Visit
LIBERTY welcomed A-Level students from High Storrs School to its Speciality Steels site, providing direct insights into steel testing, metallurgy and production. Students also met recent apprentices and learned about different career paths, helping connect STEM education with employment opportunities in the steel industry.
Link: https://libertysteelgroup.com/uk/news-media/impress-inspire-and-empower/
Peiner Träger / Salzgitter Group – School Internships & Career Orientation
Type: School Outreach / Internship
Peiner Träger and the Salzgitter Group offer school students practical insights into technical and commercial professions through internships of at least two weeks. Participants gain hands-on experience in specialised training workshops and become familiar with different apprenticeship opportunities and working environments in the steel industry.
Link: https://www.peiner-traeger.de/en/jobs-career/school-students.html
Riva Group – European Steelmill Enhancement Program
Type: Graduate Recruitment / University Outreach
The European Steelmill Enhancement Program offers graduate and undergraduate students a 12-month on-the-job learning experience across European steel plants. Participants work on projects addressing operational challenges while gaining international industrial experience, providing a direct pathway for young technical talent to engage with the steel industry.
Link: https://opportunities.rivagroup.com/en/careers/1417/offer/european_steelmill_enhancement_program
SSAB – European Graduate Program
Type: Graduate Recruitment / University Outreach
SSAB’s European Graduate Program targets recent university graduates entering their first permanent job. The 14-month programme combines an operational role with mentoring, networking, site visits and development activities, while engaging graduates in SSAB’s transformation towards a more sustainable steel industry.
Link: https://chinafyorigin.ssab.com/en/company/careers/explore-our-programs/european-graduate-program
Steel Institute VDEh – “Studier Metallurgie” (Study Metallurgy)
Type: University Outreach / Recruitment Campaign
The initiative promotes metallurgy-related study programmes and career opportunities by presenting the steel industry as innovative, sustainable and future-oriented. Messages focusing on hydrogen-based steelmaking, circular economy and advanced materials aim to attract young people while connecting university education with career perspectives in the steel sector.
Link: https://studier-metallurgie.vdeh.de/uebersicht/werkstoff-nr-1.html
UnionStahl – Open Day for Pupils
Type: School Outreach / Plant Visit
UnionStahl’s Open Day gives school students direct insights into steel processing, technical and commercial occupations, and everyday working life. Guided plant tours and exchanges with apprentices provide practical career orientation while informing participants about internships, apprenticeships and entry opportunities in the steel industry.
voestalpine – “I choose” Apprenticeship Campaign
Type: Apprenticeship Recruitment / School Outreach
The “I choose” campaign promotes apprenticeship opportunities at voestalpine by placing current apprentices at its centre. Through authentic insights into training, workplaces and everyday experiences, particularly via social media, it helps young people explore different career paths and supports recruitment for a wide range of apprenticeships.
Link: https://www.voestalpine.com/lehre/news-stories/i-choose-lehre-bei-voestalpine/
Diversity and Inclusion
Jernkontoret – Women of Steel (Metallkvinnor)
Type: Diversity & Inclusion / Gender Equality
Women of Steel is a network for women active in industry, higher education and research. Through networking events, knowledge exchange and external advocacy, the initiative raises the visibility of women in the sector, supports professional development and contributes to greater gender balance in the workplace.
thyssenkrupp Steel Europe – Girls’ Day
Type: Diversity & Inclusion / School Outreach
Girls’ Day gives female school students insights into technical apprenticeships and career opportunities at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe. Through interaction with trainers and apprentices, the initiative challenges traditional gender stereotypes and encourages girls to consider careers in steel, technology and other fields in which women remain underrepresented.
thyssenkrupp Steel Europe – Web of Women (wow@steel)
Type: Diversity & Inclusion / Female Empowerment
wow@steel is thyssenkrupp Steel Europe’s internal women’s network, offering regular meetings and opportunities for exchange. As part of the company’s broader Female Empowerment activities, it supports women’s professional development, networking and visibility while contributing to greater gender equality in the steel industry.
UNESID – Women of Steel (Mujeres de Acero)
Type: Diversity & Inclusion / Female Empowerment
Launched by UNESID, Mujeres de Acero promotes the visibility and participation of women in the Spanish steel industry. By highlighting female professionals as role models and encouraging exchange across the sector, the initiative supports gender equality and aims to attract more women to careers in steel.
voestalpine – Girls’ Day – Steel Division
Type: Diversity & Inclusion / School Outreach
Girls’ Day provides female school students with hands-on experience in technical occupations at voestalpine’s training centre. Through practical activities in metalworking and electrical engineering and exchanges with female apprentices, the initiative challenges gender stereotypes and encourages more girls to consider technical careers.
Link: https://www.voestalpine.com/stahl-karriere/Stories/Girl-s-Day-2026
Image and Recruitment Actions within European Skills Alliances
Image and recruitment have also been addressed within European Skills Alliances and related projects. ESSA and SPIRE-SAIS analysed approaches to improving the attractiveness of industry and collected examples of image, recruitment and talent management activities in dedicated repositories. In particular, the ESSA Image and Talent Management Repository provided an important basis for the present mapping of image and recruitment actions, which was further reviewed and extended within SUPER. Building on these activities, Skills4EII continues to address image and recruitment as part of its work on skills development and workforce transformation in the energy-intensive industries. Across the projects, the topic has also been addressed through workshops, stakeholder exchanges and project deliverables.
