Managers in the tertiary sector grow by 5%, driven by women

Private tertiary sector managers are growing, driven mainly by women. In 2024, Manageritalia recorded a + 5%, a figure resulting from the 4% growth of men and a double percentage (+ 9%) of women. The growth trend is part of a positive context, in which according to the latest INPS data available, reworked by Manageritalia and relating to 2023, Italian private managers increased by 2.6%, an increase that reinforces the growth of the previous four years, precisely those of the polycrisis, which came after the sharp decline (-5%) that characterized the decade 2008 - 2018. Considering a broader time frame and going back to 1995, in the last 30 years women among private managers were 12.2% in 1995 and became 22% in 2024 22%. In 1995, women among private managers with Manageritalia contracts were 10% and in 2024 they more than doubled to reach 24%. Still speaking of women, private managers in the last 30 years have increased by 150% and those with Manageritalia contracts have grown by 316%, triple the average which was +101%.

These are the data that were discussed at the 105th National Assembly of Manageritalia, the National Federation of managers, executives and professionals in commerce, transport, tourism, services and advanced tertiary sectors, which ends today in Milan. The question that the debate with 200 managers from all over Italy tried to answer concerns the evolution of the role of the manager in an evolving world of work and the future of managerialism in the country and how it can promote the well-being of people and greater productivity and competitiveness of companies. Manageritalia recently celebrated its 80th anniversary (it was founded on 9 April 1945 in Rome) and since then it has represented the interests of managers in the private tertiary sector. President Marco Ballarè believes that at this point «we need a new social pact that recognises the value of merit, responsible work, the decisive contribution of managers to the cohesion and development of the country, we therefore ask the Government for greater fiscal equity, respect for pensions and attention to the middle class».

In his speech, Ballaré also spoke to the new generations who must be increasingly central to the union debate. In fact, the union also needs to "accompany a new generation of managers. To provide tools, services, representation to executives and high-level professionals who want to be an active part of the future. Addressing all of them with a concrete proposal: restoring trust, building broader governance and giving meaning to their representation, strengthening the role of the union, and relaunching our institutional role".

In the debate on the new job, Marco Bentivogli, an expert in industrial innovation and labor policies, explained that the union "must have the ability to ride and guide innovation and rebuild the sense of belonging and community by strengthening the intergenerational pact between people who work in the same corporate environments". Chiara Bisconti, a business consultant and expert in agile work, added that "the world of work has changed in a Copernican way thanks to the introduction of agile work and smart working and places people's time at the center of everything. The union, as well as managers, must increasingly understand this priority and work accordingly on representation and labor contracts for the former and work organization for the latter". In this context, however, it cannot be ignored that "work in Italy requires higher wages and productivity, focusing on strengthening SMEs as an essential element of our economic system", remarked Monica Nolo, vice president of Manageritalia. Simone Pizzoglio, also vice president of Manageritalia, concluded that the managers' union "must also develop a communication capable of accompanying the change in the culture of work and society, thus supporting and facilitating the change that managers must manage within their companies in the organization and meaning of work. This is also why we have developed an operational plan that focuses on all the main factors of change in work and the economy."