The digital economy wants to promote women more. 24 percent of companies have set goals to increase the proportion of women. Another 14 percent are planning it in concrete terms, and 29 percent are currently discussing it. For 29% of companies, however, these goals will not be a problem in the future either. These are the results of a study by the Bitkom digital association, for which more than 500 companies in the Bitkom sector were interviewed.
The industry currently employs 1.25 million people in Germany. According to a current forecast from Bitkom, the number of employed people will increase by three percent to 1.29 million this year, with women severely underrepresented. “The digital economy must become more feminine,” asked Bitkom vice president Sabine Bendiek, presenting the results of the study. “Mixed teams are extremely important for the success of companies. And we depend on women to address skills shortages and ensure sustainable growth. The numbers are a wake-up call,” Bendiek says.
So far, the proportion of women in the digital economy has been low: more than one in ten (11 percent) companies in the sector have no women in the workforce. In 76 percent, the percentage of women is less than 25 percent and in only 7 percent of companies it is between 26 and 50 percent. The smaller the company, the lower the percentage of women. According to the study, the proportion of women increases significantly with increasing size. However, companies of all sizes have one thing in common: it is especially rare to find women in management positions. 49 percent have no women at the top.
Companies do not have a clear responsibility for gender equality
So far, one in two companies surveyed (50 percent) is not responsible for gender equality. Only two to three percent of the companies surveyed have gender equality or diversity managers, in just under a quarter (24 percent) the human resources department assumes this task and in 22 percent they are directly in management. It is almost exclusively companies with fewer than 200 employees who do not have regulated liability. Almost all companies with more than 200 employees have clarified the matter.
Bitkom Vice President Bendiek: “Equality between women and men must always be a management task. The necessary upheavals can only be successful if superiors actively set an example of equal opportunities. Equality must become part of the DNA of every company”. Most companies would know how important gender equality is to their future.
