Women in managerial positions

The shortage of skilled labour is the major demographic challenge facing our country. The question that we need to ask is who will do the work in the future? If we fail to take action now, we shall have a shortfall of some 6.5 million workers by 2025. Using all of the talent is therefore vital.

The untapped potential among the female population is huge. A quarter of all women of working age – some six million in total – are not in employment. Many of these women would be happy to work or switch from part-time to full-time employment if this were compatible with their family responsibilities.
Although there is a desire to see this happen, the necessary structures are in many cases inadequate. Whether with regard to all-day schools or increasing child day-care facilities, the policy remains a long way off achieving its goal. In particular, companies need to adopt a different philosophy and offer more family-friendly jobs.

We need women not only in the workforce as a whole but also in managerial positions. More than half of all university graduates are female. Nevertheless, the proportion of women represented on the executive boards of Germany’s 330 biggest listed companies last year was an extremely disappointing 2.7 percent. The voluntary commitment undertaken by the German business sector to increase the number of women in managerial positions failed to achieve any degree of success.

Setting binding, measurable and ambitious targets will be inevitable. We can no longer afford to ignore half of the talent available to us. The TOTAL E-QUALITY award recognising gender equality can help in initiating overdue change. More importantly, it can help do this straight away as opposed to at some future date. Only once such change is underway can our country become one of new opportunities.

Dr. Ursula von der Leyen
Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs