Talent acquisition, development and retention—alongside Employee health, well-being, and safety—are strategic for the sustainability and long-term success of the business. These topics directly affect people’s experience, team performance, and Bracell’s ability to innovate and grow sustainably. For this reason, they are considered material to our approach to sustainability management (learn more about our double materiality assessment in GRI 3-2 List of material topics).

As a growing company, we view human capital as essential for achieving our Bracell 2030 targets and building a safe, healthy, and inclusive workplace.

In 2024, we continued to invest in talent acquisition, development, and retention, with a focus on occupational health and well-being practices and fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (read more about our training and development journey in GRI 404 Training and Education).

Details on our talent acquisition, development and retention practices can be found in the disclosures below, which cover women’s representation in leadership, diversity and inclusion, and employee training and development.

Bracell has significantly expanded its operations in Brazil. Since 2021, with the start-up of our Lençóis Paulista (SP) facility—our highest-capacity plant—we have seen a 151% increase in our direct workforce, totaling 10,235 employees in 2024, including 1,688 at Bracell Papéis.

Internally, we have policies, processes, and standard operating procedures that guide our people management practices. In addition, our Bracell 2030 roadmap includes a commitment to promote equal opportunity for women, with a target to reach 30% of leadership roles held by women.

Women in Leadership

Promoting gender equality is one of the top priorities in the Bracell 2030 roadmap, which sets a target of having 30% of leadership positions held by women by 2030. In 2024, we made significant progress on this front, surpassing our interim target of 27% set for the year. We closed the year with 29.4% of leadership roles held by women, totaling 117 female leaders.

These include six senior managers, 37 managers, and 74 coordinators—a strong female presence across different levels of leadership.

Affinity groups

As part of our Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) targets, we also aim to foster a more inclusive work environment for our affinity groups, with a target of achieving 90% positive feedback from these employees on respect and equity in the workplace by 2030.

In 2024, the first year of implementing the Bracell 2030 roadmap, we established a satisfaction baseline for affinity groups and defined the key performance indicators that will guide future progress. This was done through a Diversity & Inclusion Census carried out during the year, which surveyed employees from affinity groups across all business units at the time of the survey. When asked about their overall satisfaction with Bracell, 27% of respondents expressed satisfaction (learn more about our Bracell 2030 targets and commitments).

Bracell’s diversity and inclusion practices (read more in GRI 405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees) include measurable targets, a Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and affinity groups focused on gender, race, people with disabilities, LGBTQIAPN+, and generations—the latter launched in 2024 in our Bahia operations. We are a signatory to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a UN Global Compact and UN Women initiative providing guidance on promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace, and community. Bracell is also actively involved in industry organizations aligned with this agenda.

Diversity within Bracell 2030

In 2024, we defined key performance indicators to measure “respect” and “equity” and structured a management system to track progress on an action plan to create an inclusive work environment for affinity groups—one of our Bracell 2030 targets. That same year, we also reached 29.4% women in leadership positions, bringing us closer to our 2030 target of 30%.

Training and Development

Bracell offers employees a corporate learning program with a structured training matrix that builds both soft and hard skills. Through our knowledge hub—the Bracell Learning Institute—we offer development tracks tailored to our forestry, mill, logistics, and supporting operations.

Our training programs are a key differentiator in attracting and retaining talent. Training initiatives are directly aligned with Bracell’s business challenges and support employees’ personal and professional growth, while also reflecting our T.O.P.I.C.C values (read more in GRI 2-6 About Bracell).

Training is offered both in person and online. Learn more about each training program under GRI 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs).

Impacts and risks

Bracell conducts comprehensive assessments of the potential and actual impacts related to the material topics in our materiality matrix. These assessments address both positive and negative aspects across the economy, environment, and people—including impacts on human rights.

For the topic Talent acquisition, development and retention, the aspects shown in the table below were identified. For each aspect, we work to prevent impacts from occurring and also have measures in place to reduce or mitigate impacts should they occur.

Potential impacts	Actual impacts
No negative potential impacts were identified.	Work-life imbalance: caused by excessive overtime or the lack of a flexible work system.
	Lower employee engagement.
	Higher turnover: due to the rising appeal of other roles in the market offering better benefits, flexibility, and pay.