Brands
Hindustan Zinc launches campaign to spotlight women in mining
Young women get first-hand experience in Stem and core operations
UDAIPUR: Hindustan Zinc is putting women in the spotlight with its new initiative, She Knows the Ground She Stands On, giving young women a chance to step directly into the world of mining and metals. Timed with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the campaign offers a hands-on peek at mining, smelting, and Stem careers, showing that the sector is no longer just a man’s world.
Over the next month, students from top Indian science colleges including IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, MNIT Jaipur, Banasthali Vidyapith, and MBM Jodhpur will tour operations, explore underground mines, visit smelters, and see labs in action. The first cohort, spanning disciplines from mechanical and mining engineering to geology and metallurgy, has already experienced life on the shop floor, discovering the scale, technology, and excitement of modern industrial operations.
For many, the experience was a revelation. MBM University Jodhpur’s mechanical engineering student Ankita Gour said, “It was amazing to see the theories from our books come alive in real life.” IIT (ISM) Dhanbad’s mining engineering student Shruti Kumari added, “Seeing women leading operations across all levels is inspiring. It shows that efficiency and capability know no gender.”
Hindustan Zinc employs over 700 women, including 200 engineers in core operational roles, and aims to reach 30 per cent women representation by 2030. CEO Arun Misra highlighted the importance of inclusion, saying, “Opening our operations to young women is about shifting perceptions, inspiring confidence, and building a future-ready workforce for the metals and mining sector.”
The company also offers flexible policies, wellness leave, extended parental sabbaticals, and even night shift roles for women. With digital advancements like robotics, automation, and remote mining, Hindustan Zinc is making technical roles more accessible and appealing, reinforcing mining as a vibrant, modern, and inclusive career path for women in science.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
