Italy is among the last European countries for female participation in the workforce, well below Germany (75%), France (68%), and Spain (64%). Only 51% of women of working age are employed, compared to 69% of men, with employment rates falling below 40% in the southern regions. At the same time, female representation in managerial positions is on the rise, with women making up 36% of managers in 2024, a record high. However, only 28% of all managerial positions are held by women, a percentage that drops to 18% in positions regulated by an executive contract.
Challenges remain in balancing work and motherhood, the low representation in STEM careers (17% of women study them, compared to 39% of male counterparts), low representation in top-level jobs (only 31.5% of board members in listed companies are women), and the part-time epidemic, making the employability of Italian women among the lowest in the continent, about 13 percentage points below the EU average.
These are among the conclusions of the “Women and Work in Italy” report by Rome Business School, edited by Carlo Imperatore, General Director of Federmanager Roma Lazio, and Valerio Mancini, Director of the Research and Outreach Center of Rome Business School.
No country has yet achieved full gender equality, and at the current pace, it will not be reached until 2158, well beyond the targets set by the UN’s 2030 Agenda. At the top of the 2024 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum are Iceland (93.5%), Finland (87.5%), and Norway (87.5%). Italy ranks 87th, down from 79th the previous year, losing 24 positions in just two years. In 2024, the difference in employment between women and men in Italy is 18 percentage points. The female unemployment rate is nearly double that of men (8.4% versus 4.9%), indicating greater vulnerability in finding and maintaining stable employment. The wage gap remains significant: women earn on average 10.7% less, with a gap reaching 27.3% in managerial roles.
“The gender gap in Italy is fueled by gender stereotypes and a lack of care services,” says Carlo Imperatore. “Traditional views limit women’s career choices, while the scarcity of childcare and elderly care facilities hinders their participation in the workforce.” Finally, female representation in top roles in Italy remains limited. In publicly listed companies, only 31.5% of board members are women. “This lack of representation negatively impacts gender equality policies and growth opportunities for women. These interwoven factors make achieving full gender equality in Italy still a difficult task,” Imperatore continue
In 2024, 42% of new hires were women (National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policies, INAPP), with a higher prevalence of involuntary part-time work, nearly double that of men (49.2% vs. 27.3%). In Italy, fixed-term contracts are the most common form of employment (45.5% for men, 40.4% for women), while only 13.5% of women receive permanent contracts, even fewer than those with seasonal contracts (17.6%), highlighting greater job insecurity for women. There are even more disadvantages when fixed-term contracts are combined with part-time work: this contract type applies to 64.5% of female workers on fixed-term contracts, compared to 33% of men.
After maternity leave, 16% of women leave the workforce (compared to only 2.8% of men). Additionally, low-wage work affects women three times more than men (18.5% vs. 6.4%): women remain overrepresented in the lowest-paid sectors (education and healthcare) and underrepresented in top roles and high-growth industries. In managerial positions, women earn an average hourly wage of 33.6 euros, while men earn 46.2 euros per hour (MEF data, 2024).
Gender and regional imbalances remain very strong: in the South, the female employment rate is 56.5%, 19.5 percentage points lower than that of men (76%, ISTAT, 2024). Overall, the regional gap between the South and Central-Northern Italy is over 20 percentage points, with a total employment rate of 52.2% in the South compared to 73.5% in Central-Northern Italy. The regions performing best in this regard are Valle d’Aosta, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Piedmont. Finally, according to the Chamber of Deputies (October 2024), the female inactivity rate remains high, with a national value of 43.6%, 30 percentage points above the European Union average.
According to the 2024 Women in Business report by Grant Thornton, the percentage of women in top positions worldwide has increased from 19.4% in 2004 to 33.5% in 2024, with an average annual growth of 1.1%. At the current pace, gender equality in senior management will be reached by 2053.
Three key actions are accelerating progress: strategic management of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) at the managerial level, setting measurable objectives, and flexible work arrangements – the latter preferred by women managers, though declining in 2024 (45% of companies offering hybrid options, down from 53% in 2023). Internationally, the Philippines (43%), South Africa (42%), and Thailand (41%) lead in terms of the number of women managers in the mid-market, while the most inclusive sectors are Education and Social Services (40%) and Agriculture (40%). Construction and Manufacturing, on the other hand, record the lowest rates (31%).
Italy has made significant progress, with 36% of women in managerial positions in 2024, surpassing the Eurozone average (35%) for the first time. From 2004 to 2024, female representation in top positions has doubled (from 18%), growing more than the global average (+14.1%). However, the management of DEI policies in Italy is primarily entrusted to Human Resources (42%), while in other countries, it is led by CEOs or senior leaders, promoting greater female presence in leadership roles. Despite this, the National Collective Labor Agreement for Industry and Services Managers (CCNL Dirigenti Industria e Servizi) of November 2024 represents a step forward toward gender equality in Italy, introducing concrete measures on training, active policies, and inclusion. The contract provides funding for projects to encourage women’s access to top positions, incentivizes gender equality certification, and promotes shared parenthood, enhancing parental leave and introducing 15 days of paid marriage leave. It also strengthens protections against harassment and violence in the workplace and assigns 4Manager the task of spreading corporate culture and promoting female inclusion in management.
“Ensuring gender equality requires fair, meritocratic workplaces, along with strong support for corporate welfare and work-life balance,” says Valerio Mancini, emphasizing the importance of investing in STEM education and inclusive leadership models. “Never before have we had the opportunity to build a resilient and inclusive economy, where diversity is a strategic lever for growth and innovation,” he concludes.