Sonae: 42% Women in Management by 2025, 45% Target for 2026
The Portuguese holding company has published its Gender Equality Plan 2027, an annual document that sets its strategic direction on diversity and details the objectives assigned to its management teams.
The group confirms a course already undertaken, presenting a structured action plan built around four pillars applied across all its subsidiaries.
Target of 45% Women in Management Positions
Sonae has reaffirmed its objective of seeing 45% of management positions held by women in 2026. According to the document, the share of women in management functions increased from 34% in 2019 to 42% in 2025.
The plan specifies that this objective is integrated into the group's diversity and inclusion strategy and is linked to the performance evaluation of management teams. Female representation in the total workforce stood at 32% at the end of 2025, compared to 31% in 2024.
Within the board of directors and the audit board, the share of women reached 40% in 2025, compared to 38% in 2023 and 2024, according to indicators established as of December 31, 2025.
A Plan Applied to All Subsidiaries
The plan applies to all companies held by Sonae SGPS as well as to all members of corporate bodies and any person collaborating with the group, regardless of the type of contractual relationship or geographical location.
It is based on four pillars defined by the group: people management policies, awareness-raising, empowerment of underrepresented genders, and governance model. The measures are classified into three categories: currently in effect, under implementation, and to be implemented in 2027.
Sonae also indicates that in 2025, it became the first group of Portuguese origin to adopt the United Nations Standards of Conduct for Business aimed at combating discrimination against LGBTQIA+ persons in the workplace.
