Francesco Zacchetti, Adecco Romania: In Romania, women’s representation in top executive positions remains relatively low

In an enlightening interview with Business Review, Francesco Zacchetti, Country Manager of Adecco Romania, sheds light on the evolving dynamics of the Romanian labor market, with a particular focus on the empowerment of women in business. Zacchetti offers an insightful analysis of the challenges and opportunities faced by women striving for executive positions in Romania, emphasizing the importance of ambition, perseverance, and a supportive network in navigating the complexities of gender biases and societal expectations.

What determines the success of a woman in business? 

A woman’s success in the business environment in Romania is shaped by a combination of factors, including her ambition, knowledge base, perseverance, skills, qualifications, networking, as well as resilience and how she navigates gender biases and society’s expectations. Besides, a woman can be significantly empowered through accessibility to resources, mentorship or support communities, elements that help her grow and thrive in the Romanian business market.  

How difficult is it today for a woman to assert herself in executive positions? 

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Although the women’s ascension in executive roles in Romania has seen some improvements, gender parity is far from being well balanced. Nowadays, it’s still difficult for a woman to assert herself in such positions due to existing gender bias, stereotyping and societal expectations. Even if we’ve had more conversations to promote gender equality at work, women still have limited access to leadership opportunities, equal pay, or work-life balance. 

What are the industries with the strongest career advancement barriers? And which ones have easier career advancement? 

In Romania, there might be industries such as finance, technology or manufacturing, that are mostly male dominated in their leadership structure, thus presenting a barrier in career advancement for women.  

However, we can also observe industries such as education, healthcare, beauty, HR and retail that offer relatively easier career advancement opportunities for women, due to a higher representation of female amongst employees and leadership roles. Nevertheless, many multinationals have introduced a gender parity target for their leadership roles and, in some sectors, such as finance, there are specific regulations that impose the increase of women representation in corporate boards. 

What are the biggest challenges for a woman to reach leadership positions? 

Some of the biggest challenges for a woman aspiring to leadership roles range from the lack of female role models in senior and executive positions, the limited access to networking opportunities, implicit biases, the struggle of balancing career and family to all the existent stereotypes regarding their leadership abilities. Still, women only hold a small fraction of total CEO roles across regions and sectors. Thus, the EU recently adopted a law on gender balance in corporate boards that says: “At least 40% of non-executive director positions, or 33% of all director posts, must be occupied by the under-represented sex by 2026.” 

How does Romania fare in terms of women top executives (what are the challenges, difficulties, positive aspects)? 

On a national level, women’s representation in top executive positions still remains relatively low in comparison to men. Women usually face more challenges in reaching top executive roles, as I’ve specified before, from gender bias to cultural expectations about the role of a woman in society. In recent years, some positive developments have been noticed for empowering women in the Romanian business market, such as increasing awareness about gender diversity, initiatives to promote women’s leadership, as well as new emerging support networks and mentorship programs. However, I believe there is still more room for improvement, especially in changing the mindset and increasing the women’s representation in top management roles.