Apcom Adriatic: Tech women creating an inclusive workplace

“Apcom celebrates diversity every single day, appreciating and understanding it. It is what makes us successful. We are a team of different nationalities with a strong presence of women in managerial positions.”

Through the years, Apcom has created an environment that helps women grow and take the highest positions in the company. Better than the industry average, women represent 60% of the personnel across Apcom in the Adriatic and 70% in management holding positions. The company’s General Manager in the Adriatic region is also female.

While some industries show trends of a growing female workforce, sectors like finance, engineering, and tech still tend to be strongly male dominated. In STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) industries overall, women make up just 28% of the workforce.

This is what Ana-Marija Durdic, retail executive, thinks about the opportunity: “It is not news that women and men think and act differently. There is no good or bad, just a fact that needs to be on the mind of every manager in order to have diversity in the team. In the last 10 years, the gender diversity picture in Croatia has changed, mostly due to international companies opening offices and bringing different cultures to the market here. Working currently in a mostly feminine environment lead by a strong women, I find it interesting and inspiring as it brings opportunities for supporting, nurturing and empowering women in management.”

It has been noticed within the company that women holding the majority of management positions are among the main drivers of Apple brand development in the region and, year after year, bring the best possible customer experience to Apple users.

“As a woman, working with a woman can sometimes be a challenge, but at the same time an advantage, because we understand each other better which allows us to create a solid workplace relationship. Also, having more diversity in the company helps bring in different ideas and perspectives, allowing the company to become more adaptable to changes. In Serbia, the percentage of companies with mostly female employees is extremely low. Women are still not valued the same as men, but due to successful companies that lead by example, showing that diversity brings the best results, changes are expected in this field in the near future,” said Milica Radovic, Marketing Manager of the Carriers Channel.

The opportunities given to Apcom employees has rewarded the company with a professional team, striving and achieving more, and building a pleasant office environment.

Over the past 21 months, Apcom has had to embrace flexibility in its workspace. All of a sudden, due to Covid-19, the company moved to home offices and changed from traveling suits to sweatpants. For many this also meant home schooling their children and trying to manage those two worlds together, but there is no obstacle a woman can not pass, as Antonija Prlic, Chief Accountant in Apcom Croatia commented:

“It is encouraging to work in an environment where you receive confirmation on a daily basis that a woman does not have to choose between a career and family life, but can live both of them in full.”

And this theme was echoed by Marketing Manager, Spela Seserko: “Women in the male-dominated tech industry often feel under-represented, so it feels powerful and inspiring to be surrounded by strong female energy. Gender inequality is not a topic of the past, and in order to drive change, companies need to invest deeply in all aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are often reading stories about Katherine Switzer, Joan of Arc and Charlotte Bronte, who all pretended to be males to succeed as they knew as a female they couldn’t. But this is the situation we are still dealing with in the year 2022 as well, that is why it is extremely important to speak about it and be part of this change.”

Midis Group has long been a supporter of women’s achievements promoting the advancement of gender equality in business leadership and trying to close the gender gap in the tech industry.

Branka Cander, General Manager of Apcom Adriatic said: “Apcom, like many leading companies, embraces general equality. These differences in our team are what helps our employees grow professionally and personally, and it is what brings the success to the company. Seeing women in leadership positions makes women more inclined to take a job and to aim for higher goals.”

Meet the women of Apcom:

Ana-Marija Durdic, Andrea Gorscak, Antonija Prlic, Branka Cander, Dora Bozic, Jelena Ignjatovic, Marlena Milunic, Mateja Kosi, Milica Radovic, Nastja Simunic, Natasa Dovic Krasovec, Neza Demojzes, Sanja Savatic, Spela Veselko, and Spela Seserko.

More about Apcom in the Adriatic Region

Apcom in the Adriatic Region is an Apple Authorized Distributor in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia Herzegovina. In the region there are teams in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and North Macedonia. The HQ of Apcom CE is in Budapest.