Otis supports the Politecnico di Milano’s Girls@Polimi 2026initiative by funding a scholarship for female students choosing engineering courses, thereby helping to reduce the gender gap in STEM disciplines. The initiative comes at a time of strong demand for qualified technical professionals: investing in young women means expanding the talent pool and addressing a structural challenge in the labour market.

In addition to financial support, the programme offers guidance and mentoring, building a solid bridge between school, university and the world of work, and facilitating access to increasingly innovative and digital technical professions.

The shortage of technical skills is now one of the main structural challenges facing the Italian manufacturing sector. In this context, increasing the number of women in STEM disciplines is not only a matter of fairness, but also a practical way to strengthen human capital and support innovation.

With this commitment, Otis is participating in the 2026 edition of Girls@Polimi, the programme promoted by the Politecnico di Milano which offers 35 scholarships to female students interested in university engineering courses in fields still characterised by a low female presence.

For the 2026/2027 academic year, the scholarships – each worth a total of €24,000 – are aimed at female students in their fourth and fifth years of secondary school who choose courses such as Electronic Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Automation Engineering.

A sector in transition seeking skilled professionals

Otis’s support forms part of a broader picture in which demand for technical professionals is growing faster than supply. The vertical transport sector – which is vital for ensuring accessibility, safety and continuity in increasingly urbanised cities with an ageing population – is at the heart of this transformation.

The technical profession is evolving rapidly: digitalisation, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence are redefining skills and activities, making them increasingly focused on data analysis, problem-solving and the management of complex systems.

Otis invests systematically in the development of these skills, as evidenced by the approximately 100 new hires planned in Italy by 2026, the continuous training and professional development programmes offered by the company, and the opportunities for stable, skilled employment provided by a solid organisation such as Otis.

More women in STEM to bridge the skills gap

In Italy, the female employment rate remains significantly below the European average, highlighting a vast untapped potential. In the technical sector, this gap originates as early as the school guidance stage, where girls are still not sufficiently encouraged to pursue STEM pathways. Promoting greater female participation therefore means acting on two fronts: social inclusion and economic development.

“Expanding young women’s access to STEM disciplines is essential to address the shortage of technical skills and build a more competitive labour market. “With Girls@Polimi, we want to make a tangible contribution to creating new opportunities for talent that is still under-represented, in addition to those offered by the 56 positions already open in Italy, with the same number to follow by the end of the year, for fulfilling careers in the technical field,” said Flavia Fondi, Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist for Italy at Otis. She added, “For us, the initiative goes beyond financial support: it enables us to create and strengthen a genuine link between university and the workplace, facilitating an informed entry into a complex and still predominantly male-dominated world such as that of technical work, and allowing us to train and develop the talent of today and tomorrow. Building an inclusive workplace also fosters greater engagement and a sense of belonging, as well as improved business performance, to the benefit of everyone.”

From school to work: Otis’s concrete commitment

Otis has always been committed to education, throughout the entire educational and professional journey: from promoting STEM subjects in schools, through projects such as Made To Move Communities™ and Little Engineers™, to supporting access to university. This is the context for our collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano: Girls@Polimi is not just financial support, but a comprehensive programme that includes guidance, training and mentoring – essential tools to help female students make informed choices and facilitate their entry into the technical workforce. To date, the programme has already funded over 150 scholarships, making a tangible contribution to reducing the gender gap in scientific disciplines. Through this initiative, Otis reinforces its role as an active partner between industry and academia and renews its commitment to a future in which innovation, skills and inclusion grow together.