Major companies join forces to promote women’s careers in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ten major companies have joined forces in a new project to accelerate women’s career development and access to the labor market in Brazil. Accenture, Adidas, Enel, Generali, Microsoft, Oracle, Pirelli, Stellantis, TIM, and Via are jointly involved in the initiative.

Through the Positive Women app, developed by entrepreneur Fabiana Saad, job openings are posted by partner companies at different hierarchical levels. In addition to job listings, the app will also offer free courses and content on careers.

Another project activity is a “cross-company” mentoring program. It lasts six to eight months and focuses on the career development of women from participating companies. Sessions are crisscrossed: For example, a Microsoft director may act as a mentor to a Pirelli employee, and so

This initiative is coordinated by CMI Business Transformation, a consulting firm led by Maristella Iannuzzi, a technology executive who specializes in diversity and inclusion and has worked extensively with UN Women and the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs).

The announcement of the new project was made on Tuesday, 6, in a broadcast on TIM’s YouTube channel. At the time, Pietro Labriola, CEO of the telecom, commented on why the company adopted the program. “Women are facing unprecedented challenges, exacerbated by the pandemic, which has made social and gender inequalities even more evident,” he said. “Accessing the digital world and developing the skills to do so has become an urgent necessity for those who want and need to enter the labor market. It’s time for us to join forces and promote concrete initiatives for inclusion and social change.”

Maria Antonieta Russo, Vice President of Human Resources at TIM, commented on the importance of mentoring. “It’s another action of this collective movement that will expand the knowledge areas of the companies’ female employees and create a pool of female talent in the market.”

Companies participating in the initiative presented some of the actions they are already taking to ensure gender equity. Alain Rosolino, director of human resources and organization at Enel Brasil, noted that in the last two years, about 67% of the employees the company hired for upper management positions were women.

Giusepe Giorgi, Pirelli’s human resources director for South America, mentioned the “Woman Inside Pirelli” program, which helps women fill the positions they want in the company. “In the past, an institution in the automotive industry was essentially male, but fortunately the world has changed and Pirelli has adapted,” he said.