On 8 March, we celebrate International Women’s Day, honouring women’s long-standing fight for equality in all areas of life. Marking this occasion, the European Commission has unveiled its Roadmap to strengthen women’s rights alongside the 2025 Report on Gender Equality.
The Commission communication highlights that “acknowledging and harnessing the potential of all women as workers, entrepreneurs, and leaders is imperative for the EU’s growth and stability” and “fosters more stable and resilient democracies”. The document also emphasises that “improved gender equality could elevate the EU GDP per capita by 6.1 to 9.6% by 2050.”
Overall, this Roadmap advances the gender equality agenda and sets the stage for the next Gender Equality Strategy, due in 2026. It also aligns with the broader Union of Skills strategy, which tackles labour and skill shortages and their impact on the EU’s competitiveness and innovation.
Ceemet, the employer organisation for the MET industries, welcomes this renewed push for gender equality, particularly in the context of European industrial and economic competitiveness. With women making up just 30% of the EU manufacturing workforce, according to EIT Manufacturing, two measures are crucial: bringing more women back into the labour market and investing in women’s STEM education. These steps will not only empower women across the continent but also help address labour and skill shortages, strengthening Europe’s industrial base. Many of our member associations and companies we represent in the MET industry are already working towards this goal at a national level, and the testimonies below clearly demonstrate their effectiveness.
Bringing women back into the labour market
Women often experience lower employment rates and a significantly higher proportion of part-time work compared to men due to the unequal sharing of unpaid domestic work and caring responsibilities. Furthermore, women face other structural factors, such as the lack of affordable and quality early childhood education and care, that constitute an obstacle to accessing a job.
It is for this reason that we continue to insist on national policymakers to urgently invest in high-quality, affordable, and accessible childcare facilities that will certainly raise women’s incentives to work and can help address labour shortages. The European Institute for Gender Equality estimates foresee an 80% employment rate of women by 2050 if there are substantial gender equality improvements.
Thus, we urge Member States to follow the Council Recommendation on early childhood education and care: the Barcelona targets for 2030 of 8 December 2022, as well as the Council Recommendation on access to affordable high-quality long-term care of 8 December 2022.
To incentivise labour market participation of women and other involuntary part-time workers across Europe, the Commission will also “study the causes of involuntary part-time employment to better understand the obstacles that prevent involuntary part-time workers, especially women, from working full-time, and explore the possibility for EU action”. We welcome any initiative intended to analyse, compare and better understand the reasons for involuntary part-time work, for example, since the results of the studies can encourage the Member States to introduce relevant measures to address the issue. However, we think that there is no need for the Commission to come up with EU action in this field. It is up to the national policymakers to analyse the reasons for involuntary part-time work and propose the necessary measures to address the issue in line with national regulations.
Investing in STEM-related studies and disciplines and ICT professions
According to the European Commission, up to 63% of EU companies seeking to recruit information and communication technology (ICT) specialists already face difficulties filling those vacancies — a demand expected to more than double by 2030. MET industries are no exception, with companies urgently needing highly skilled workers to thrive and stay competitive. Specialists like data analysts, engineers, cybersecurity and ICT experts, mechanical and metal designers, software engineers, and the skilled workforce driving robotics and automation in manufacturing are all in high demand.
Moreover, workers with strong analytical and system design skills, alongside those with a solid STEM background, are essential for the sustainability of our industries. Despite clear evidence of a growing labour market demand — particularly in the context of the green and digital transformation — the supply of ICT and STEM graduates from upper-secondary and higher education remains insufficient. The shortage of ICT specialists is especially severe. Too few students pursue STEM-related subjects, and women’s participation in these fields remains low. Although women make up 52% of the European population and the majority of tertiary graduates in the EU, only 2 in 5 scientists and engineers are women, and just 18% of ICT specialists are female.
For these reasons, we continue to urge European and national policymakers to boost investment in STEM-related studies and disciplines, a goal the newly announced STEM Education Strategic Plan rightly prioritises. We consider that STEM education should be encouraged from an early age to ensure its uptake at a later stage. We also need greater awareness and targeted promotion of STEM careers and disciplines, especially among young women and young people in general. Member States should invest in effective, practical, and flexible career guidance systems that motivate and support young people to choose STEM-related academic paths, vocational education and training, and, ultimately, careers in our industries.
Priorities for strengthening gender equality in Europe
For further priorities, Ceemet fully supports the recommendations by BusinessEurope in its position paper “Priorities for strengthening gender equality in Europe”. It features various case studies and campaigns from EU member states, including from our industry, which can serve as a great inspiration and benchmark. You can download the paper here.