This paper, which aims to provide an overview of the world of female labour in the north of Italy at the beginning of the 20th century, has a dual purpose. Firstly, it aspires to highlight how our female ancestors, far from waiting for the First World War to work outside the home, represented a fundamental link in a productive organisation in the process of globalisation and, moreover, contributed to a vast external and internal network of labour migration. Secondly, it aims to highlight some particularly emancipatory aspects of women’s job mobility. Given the scope of the subject matter, this analysis will focus only on the testimonies of a few protagonists who were directly concerned by job mobility, i.e. women who set off personally in search of better working conditions, whether within the country or outside its borders. After an introduction explaining the context, the paper will be divided into three parts to follow these women on their way to France, in the Po Valley, and at the height of trade union power.