Essity Italy accelerates gender equality efforts and reaches 92% in the 2026 audit

Essity Italy confirms and strengthens its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion by achieving, in the surveillance audit of the Certification for Gender Equality Uni/PdR 125:2022, an overall score of 92%, up by14 percentage points compared with the 78% achieved in 2025.

A result that demonstrates the company’s ability to turn its commitments into concrete and measurable actions through a structured approach involving governance, Hr processes, the development of female leadership, pay equity and support for parenthood.

“The improvement in our score is an important recognition of the work carried out in recent months and of the active participation of our people. Certification is not a destination, but a tool that helps us monitor progress and continue building an environment in which everyone can express their potential, regardless of gender,” comments Maria Laura Deni, corporate communications manager at Essity Italy.

The main areas of assessment

The independent assessment highlighted particularly positive performance in the areas of Culture and Strategy, Governance, Hr Processes and Opportunities for women's growth and inclusion in the company, confirming the progress made by the company in the certification’s main areas of assessment.

Among the elements most highly valued by the auditors were the role of the Steering Committee for Gender Equality, active in monitoring and governing the process, the integration of inclusion and equality objectives into people management processes, and the adoption of equity and inclusion criteria in recruitment, development and career processes.

These are complemented by listening and participation tools such as Balance@Work, the internal survey developed with specific questions on diversity, equity and inclusion, Speak Up and Courageous Conversations, together with awareness-raising and training activities for all levels of the company on gender equality, stereotypes and unconscious bias. The audit also recognised the inclusive communication initiatives and the company’s commitment to balanced representation of women and men at events and public occasions.

Female leadership and growth opportunities

The path undertaken by Essity Italy continues to generate concrete results also in terms of female representation. In the area of Opportunities for women's growth and inclusion in the company, the audit highlighted particularly positive results, above the sector benchmarks for the presence of women in the organisation, the proportion of women in managerial positions, in positions of responsibility and in the first reporting lines to management.

In Italy, women now represent 43% of managerial roles, compared with 57% of men: a result that enables Essity Italy to achieve ahead of schedule the global objective of gender-balanced leadership, set for 2028 at a distribution ranging from 40% to 60%. The figure confirms a steady growth trend compared with 2025 and 35% in the 2023/2024 period, with an increase of 23% over three years.

Over the last two years, Essity Italy has also recorded an increase of 60% in women in managerial positions, rising from 16,67% in 2023 to 26,67% in 2025, a figure above the national average benchmark indicated in the certification report. The percentage of women as a proportion of the total workforce also records a positive difference of more than 10 percentage points compared with the average value for the relevant industry, confirming the company’s growth towards greater equality.

Pay equity and support for parenthood

The path has also been recognised for the results achieved in the area of Gender pay equity, with a pay gap between men and women below 10% for the same role and duties and variable remuneration systems applied fairly.

Particular attention was also given to the area of Parenthood protection and work-life balance, also thanks to initiatives such as Back to Grow, the programme supporting the return to work after maternity leave, which provides dedicated training pathways both for the returning employee and their manager, alongside mentoring activities. The programme forms part of a broader support system that includes mentoring, tools for managers and flexible smart working, with the aim of facilitating a positive transition and supporting continuity in the professional journey.

An inclusive culture

During 2026 Essity Italy further consolidated its path through training, listening and awareness-raising activities aimed at everyone in the organisation.

The company has also continued to develop its inclusive communication programme, promoting language that respects and represents diversity and strengthening internal engagement initiatives on Dei topics. In this context, Courageous Conversations are meetings open to people who work at Essity, designed to encourage mutual listening, the sharing of experiences and the overcoming of unconscious biases.

These are complemented by the Inclusive Communication Plan, the Inclusive Language Manual with guidelines for internal and external communication, the training programme dedicated to everyone at Essity and the Internal Committee for Inclusive Communication, responsible for monitoring and supporting communication activities over time.

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.