Mariella Camilleri urges businesses to promote ‘more active and involved’ roles for women

Entrepreneur and President of International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW)’s Malta operations Mariella Camilleri on Sunday shared that businesses need to put “support structures” in place to allow women to have "more active and involved" presences in the workplace.

She was speaking after a report revealed that following the COVID-19 pandemic, women in the US returned to the workforce in record numbers. This has been aided by a strong economic recovery and a “work-from-home revolution”, with many businesses giving them the opportunity to work either remotely or on a hybrid-basis. The return of working women in the US surged more rapidly than that of men, with the most notable increase being among women in their 30s, the age when women often start having children, leading them to either scale back or quit their jobs.

Ms Camilleri noted that this is “fantastic news”, yet she also believed that “we must be cautious that working from home is not precluding women from reaching senior roles within the organisation”.

“A support structure needs to be established to allow women to be more active and involved within the workplace,” she added.

She explained that this would make them have a greater presence “when the time comes for promotions from within”.

“Let’s also make sure that there is a process entrenched within the organisation to enable equity contribution evaluation for everyone when it comes to career growth,” Ms Camilleri concluded.

As part of her role as BPW Malta President, Ms Camilleri is particularly vocal about women’s rights and lifestyle at the workplace. Through its network in over 100 countries, BPW International seeks to develop the “professional, business and leadership potential” of women through “skill-building, networking advocacy and mentoring” across the world.

Aside from that, she is also a Member of the Board of Directors at Magtech Limited, as well as Co-Owner and President at Cammar Enterprises. She describes herself as an “insightful executive and Audit Committee Financial Expert”.