Albania and Serbia lead region for employees with female bosses, Eurofound data show

Albania and Serbia now top the Western Balkans for the share of employees who report having a female boss, according to new figures from Eurofound (the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions). Around 33% of employees in Albania and 35% in Serbia say their immediate superior is a woman—levels that sit near the European Union average and clearly above most neighboring countries.

By contrast, Montenegro and North Macedonia register lower shares of employees with female superiors, at 28% and 32% respectively. While both have moved to broaden women’s participation in decision-making, men still hold about 65–70% of managerial roles in those labor markets, the data indicate.

Traditional barriers remain present but are beginning to recede. At the bottom of the regional ranking are Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, which record some of the lowest levels of female leadership in Europe. In Bosnia, male bosses account for more than 75% of immediate superiors; in Kosovo, male dominance exceeds 80%, leaving women’s representation at roughly 15–18%.

Across the EU, the share of male immediate superiors hovers around 64%, meaning about one in three employees report to a woman. Within the Western Balkans, Albania and Serbia are the only countries close to or within that benchmark, suggesting convergence with broader European leadership patterns.

The highest levels of gender balance in Europe are seen in countries such as Sweden—where about 50% of immediate superiors are men and 48% are women—and Finland. Notably, parts of the Western Balkans outperform some older EU members on this measure. Albania and Serbia both report a higher share of women in managerial roles than Greece, where men account for around 72% of bosses, and Malta at 73%.

Eurofound’s snapshot underscores the uneven progress across the region, even as signs of change become more visible in some labor markets.