FS Italiane signs the Women's Employment Manifesto

Signed at LUISS Guido Carli University

Rome, 12 September 2017

The Italian FS Group has signed up to the Women's Employment Manifesto promoted by Valore D, a business association that promotes diversity, talent and female leadership, at LUISS Guido Carli University today.

By adhering to the Manifesto, the FS Italiane Group has demonstrated our commitment to supporting and promoting the employment of women within our company.

“14.9% of FS Group employees are women, a quota that falls to 2.7% in maintenance activities and 0.8% of train drivers. Obviously, the entire leadership of the Group does not see this situation as acceptable. Increasing the number of female workers, particularly in the specialist/technical areas, means generating innovation, sustainable growth and competitiveness. Diversity creates a positive drive and boosts profits”, commented Gioia Ghezzi, President of FS Italiane, when signing the Women's Employment Manifesto.

The initiative was attended by Maria Elena Boschi, Undersecretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Teresa Bellanova, Vice Minister for Economic Development, Paola Severino, Tito Boeri, President of INPS, Rector of the LUISS Guido Carli University, Sandra Mori, President of Valore D, and 30 Managing Directors and Presidents of the 100 associated companies.

The goal of the policy document is to agree on nine concrete steps, in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, to promote women's talents in the company.

"We want more women in the company," continued Gioia Ghezzi, "and for this reason we have put in place a number of initiatives, including the introduction of a policy that will involve all the Group companies activating selection processes that require 50% of candidates to be women, according to a principle of comply or explain. "

During the meeting, the President of FS Italiane also emphasised the important initiatives put in place to increase the number of women in the company. In particular, Women in Motion, the Group's diversity campaign, which saw a 50% increase in women's candidatures with a technical diploma in a single year. "An encouraging figure," concluded Ghezzi, "which prompts us to renew our commitment by signing the for Women's Employment Manifesto."