- YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP HAS LONG SUPPORTED THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY. CURRENTLY 27% OF ITS TECH WORKFORCE ARE WOMEN, AHEAD OF THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE
- BUILDING ON THIS, AND MARKING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2020, THE COMPANY IS LAUNCHING A NEW INTERNAL SPONSORSHIP PROGRAMME, PAIRING RISING FEMALE TALENT IN TECH WITH SENIOR LEADERS FROM ACROSS THE BUSINESS
- THIS PILOT WILL ENABLE SPONSORS AND SPONSEES TO PROVIDE NEW LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES AND DESIGN NEW WAYS OF WORKING THAT WILL SUPPORT GENDER PARITY IN TECHNOLOGY
- THE PROJECT BUILDS ON YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP INITIATIVES INCLUDING ITS “WOMEN IN TECH” COMMUNITY AND DIGITAL EDUCATION WORKSHOPS THAT ARE DESIGNED TO BUILD A STRONG TALENT PIPELINE
YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP, the world leader in online luxury and fashion, is strengthening its commitment to driving gender equality in technology with the launch of a new internal sponsorship programme for women. Pairing rising female talent in its technology team with senior business leaders over a period of 10 months, the initiative aims to provide advanced learning and development opportunities for employees on the path to leadership.
The programme derives from the commitment that Federico Marchetti, YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP Chairman and CEO, made as a founding member of Male Champions of Change’s Global Tech Group, a coalition of leaders which includes representatives from BBC, Condé Nast and Microsoft Ventures. The group’s members have joined together to accelerate the advancement of gender equality in the technology industry.
YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP’s new sponsorship programme supports the expert view that having well-connected senior leaders commit to, and advocate for, women in a sponsorship capacity disrupts barriers that too often prevent women advancing at the same rate as men. The initiative will allow sponsees and sponsors to share perspectives and learn from each other’s experience. In addition, sponsees will benefit from additional leadership training, network connections and opportunities to demonstrate their skill set. Through the programme, sponsees and sponsors will begin to design new ways of working that overcome the barriers women in technology can typically experience.
Our ambition is for YOOX NET-A-PORTER to be the number one employer for female talent in the technology industry. We already employ more women in tech than the industry average, but we have to be relentless in our mission. I have always believed in the power of knowledge and the power of opportunity. We want even more women to excel in technology leadership roles, and this requires new ways of working. In this respect, everyone involved in the programme is an innovator – redesigning how we collaborate and supporting greater diversity of thinking.
Federico Marchetti, Chairman and CEO, YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP
This initiative supports the Group’s ambitions to become the “Top Employer for female talent in tech” and builds on successful technology initiatives including:
- “Women in Tech” Community: The development of an employee resource group that works to support talented women and create a better future by offering participation in social media forums, speaker events, mentoring and bespoke training to ensure their advancement within the sector.
- Digital Education Workshops: Since 2016, in partnership with institutions around the world – from Imperial College London and Fondazione Golinelli in Bologna – the Group has invested in a Digital Education Programme which has already engaged over 6,000 students and aims at inspiring the next generation, especially young girls, to learn about technology and to pursue studies and careers in STEM.
A recent YouGov survey of young women aged 18-25 across the UK, US and Italy, commissioned by YOOX NET-APORTER GROUP as part of its ‘Women in Tech’ programme, highlighted that only 23% of respondents consider themselves to be tech savvy, and similarly, only 23% believed tech skills to be important for a career in fashion.
YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP’s ambition is to change mindsets and create female tech leaders of the future, in order to inspire and cultivate future generations.
