Our people
When the majority are women
A predominantly female community, a Board of Directors composed of 50% women - a striking figure for our country - and yet women’s participation is still unbalanced in operational roles. That is why Camst is investing in training for equal opportunities in career paths.
Camst maintains its headquarters in Bologna, but has grown over time through acquisitions in Italy and abroad. As of 31 December 2021, the Camst Group employed 15,098 people, of whom 11,602 - 77% - were employed by the parent cooperative.
Women make up for an impressive 81.7% of our workforce, distributed in all areas of the company, particularly in operational roles; a proportion that has always been very high, but which historically has not been fully reflected in top positions. The top management therefore thought long and hard about this, and decided to introduce training programmes and awareness-raising to encourage equal opportunities and career development amongst its female staff. In particular, it cooperates with Work Wide Women, an organisation which supports businesses by providing diversity management solutions.
At the Group level, permanent employment contracts continued to predominate during 2021, with a prevalence of part-time, typical not only of the catering and soft facility management sectors but also in companies with mainly female workforces.
Permanent employment contracts continued to predominate during 2020, with a prevalence of part-time, typical not only of the catering and facility management sectors but also in companies with mainly female workforces.
Social inclusion
This covers a variety of issues - leaving aside the gender issues discussed above - which are united by their underlying social value in relation to access to work. With regard to the origins of our employees, it should be noted that 9.2% of Camst Group employees are of a different nationality from the country in which they work.
On the other hand, as far as access to employment for people with disabilities is concerned, Camst's commitment to promote diversity with incentives for its various departments is confirmed in 2021.
The tables below do not include data from Denmark, which, unlike the other countries in which Camst operates does not track this information, as required by the relevant regulations.
Diversity and inclusion, adopting the ISO 30415 standard
In 2020 – during the pandemic emergency – the Camst company community proved it was also able to offer care within its own organisation, by supporting colleagues in difficulty.
As a consequence of the slowdown or lockdown of most operations, in Italy income support was activated for more than 8,500 people. The company advanced income support (“Fis”) and government financed lay-off payments (“Cigd”) to employees so they were not left without funds until the central Inps authority was able to process their claims. Camst also introduced additional schemes to support its employees, to aid them in applying for mortgage moratoria and accessing food vouchers.
The diversity one is confronted with every day in the workplace is both enriching and a heritage to be defended and valued. An inclusive company does not only respect standards, but rejects prejudice and encourages gender, ethnic and religious plurality. For Camst, the issue of diversity is particularly a matter of gender, given the high proportion of women in the company's workforce and the need to foster their professional growth. This goal is in line with the NRRP, which identifies the need to bridge the gender gap in business as a priority for the country as whole.
To this end, the Group launched a project on female leadership in 2021, with the aim of developing and maintaining equal participation of women in the company.
But that’s not all. Together with SGS, a world leader in analysis and certification services, Camst decided to map its diversity management procedures - with a particular focus on gender equality - using the ISO 30415:2021 standard, which aims to foster internal change within companies, guiding them in defining socially sustainable strategic objectives to create more impartial, fair and inclusive organisations.
The audit focused on policies, initiatives, active training practices and activities in the company, and data on recruitment, training and remuneration by level and gender.
The process, which officially started in February 2022, is aimed at supporting Camst in understanding the principles of D&I in its business processes and more generally in its relations with all relevant stakeholders, enabling it to plan decisions with a view to continuous improvement. By adopting this standard, Camst has also anticipated the timing for the future implementation and certification of the company's management system, as required by Law 2021 No. 162 on equal opportunities in the workplace.
Together against gender-based violence
An important project on combating the phenomenon of gender-based violence was also launched in cooperation with D.i.Re. (Donne in rete contro la violenza - the Women’s Network Against Violence).
The initiative included the development and dissemination of the physical and digital publishing project ‘Fuori dalla violenza’ (Escape from Violence), designed to offer guidance and support to victims, as well as training webinars aimed at human resources managers to recognise and help women in abusive situations and the offer of paid internships for women referred by the association who need their own economic independence to escape abuse.
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