Article
How Visma is tipping the scales for women in tech
6/3/2025
min read
Business insights, Life at Visma
Article
How Visma is tipping the scales for women in tech

This article was first published in 2023 and has since been updated according to our latest progress and goals.
One of our core values is that we’re inclusive – and everyone at Visma takes that to heart. We’ve built our business around the idea that we’re better together, which means making sure everyone has both a seat and a voice at the table. That’s why we continue to fight for gender equity and balance within our industry – with some ambitious goals we’ve laid out below.
The fact is, there are still significantly more men than women in the tech industry today. The good news is that we’re making strides to close the gap as the number of women within our organisation continues to grow.
As of 2024, 40.6% of our employees are women. (The industry average is 35%.) And 36.8% of our leaders are women, including 19% of our Managing Directors.
Now, we’ll be the first to admit that we still have a long way to go – but we do think our efforts are helping tip the scales. Let’s break down what’s worked so far and where we’ve set our sights for the future.
Intentional recruiting
A big part of successful engagement is partnering with schools and other organisations to get women and girls interested in technology as a career path. But, we also have to show potential recruits that we walk the talk. Here are a few ways we turn our words into action:
1. Specific recruiting targets
Measurable goals are our bread and butter. While the main criteria to fill a position is competence, having a specific gender-balance target drives us to explore a larger pool of candidates to find the perfect fit. We find a lot of our talent through our Summer Internship and Management Trainee programmes. So, we aim for 50% women in both of these programmes.
For our Group-wide student programmes in 2024, 47% of our Summer Interns and of our Management Trainees were women.
2. Genderless job ads
If a job ad feels like it’s targeting a specific gender, we might miss out on qualified candidates – and everyone loses. So we try to avoid words commonly used to target men or women. For example, some male-coded words are assertive, headstrong, outspoken, and fearless. Some female-coded are sensitive, nurture, feel, and compassion.
We also try to eliminate requirements that aren’t essential, and point out which qualifications are “must have” and which are “nice to have”. Research shows that women tend to apply only for jobs where they meet 100% of the requirements listed – and this is one barrier to entry that’s easy to remove.
3. Structured recruitment processes
A structured recruitment process (in Visma) includes structured interviews with trained interviewers with diverse perspectives, psychometric tests, and work cases – a combination that research claims is the best predictor for job success. We know that people in general are exposed to many different types of bias in a recruitment process, so we work to create awareness on those and also minimise them so that we hire the best fit for a job, regardless of gender, ethnicity, etc.
4. Diverse representation at Visma events
We attend and host quite a few events throughout the year, specifically at schools and organisations where we hope to engage the next generation of talent. Our ultimate goal is to make attendees feel welcome. We make sure that people see themselves represented in all groups that represent us at events. For internal events, we also make sure to promote women leaders, so employees can see a diverse group of leaders featured.

Leadership by example
Our organisational structure is relatively flat, and our goal is that everyone from top management to teammates is accessible. That’s why we focus on inclusion and balance in all parts of our organisation. Here are a couple of ways we lead by example:
1. Specific leadership programme targets
We have a yearly educational programme for leaders who are handpicked by their company and approved by top management. This programme helps develop their personal and professional skills, as well as build their network. Because this is one of our most valuable ways to grow the candidate pool to fill future leadership positions, we aim for a 50/50 split of women and men.
In 2024, we averaged 42.6% women in our Visma Management Academy programme for the spring and autumn sessions.
2. A wide range of diversity and inclusion efforts
So much of employee happiness relies on what happens in day-to-day interactions, which is why we’re keen on a culture of openness and respect. At the end of 2024, our D&I Index Score was 66 – up from 64 in 2023 – which puts us in the top 5% in our industry. By focusing on diversity and inclusion on a larger scale, everyone in our organisation can feel safe and supported. In departments or teams where women are significantly outnumbered, we know that these efforts go a long way in helping them feel more confident in the workplace.
We also have transparent work processes that allow people to comfortably voice their opinions, and we’re committed to creating a work environment where employees can balance work and personal life in a healthy way.
Looking toward the future
We’re proud of our efforts so far – and excited for our plans to move the needle even further. One of our top priorities is continuing to recruit and build the competencies of our future women leaders as we work toward more balance in management teams. This includes more targeted outreach to encourage women to apply for our Summer Internship and Management Trainee programmes. It also includes increased efforts to motivate companies to nominate more women for leadership development, as well as build relationships at universities and student organisations.
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