Daimler chief rejects quotas for women in upper management

Sep 25, 2011, 9:48 GMT

Berlin - The head of German carmaker Daimler has come out against the introduction of quotas for women in upper management.

'What am I supposed to do with all the men?' Dieter Zetsche asked in comments to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper published Sunday. 'Force them all to retire to free up positions?'

The German government has this year been examining proposals by Labour Minister Ursula von der Leyen to introduce a 40-per-cent quota for women in upper management.

The proposals were 'simply not feasible,' said Zetsche.

Family Affairs Minister Kristina Schroeder meanwhile rejected a fixed quota, but said she was in favour of flexible quotas.

'I don't believe in a fixed 30-per-cent quota at all,' she told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. 'Conditions in each industry are objectively quite different.'

However, during a meeting with the top 30 DAX companies planned for October 17, Schroeder said she expected them to have made progress in setting their own goals for encouraging the promotion of women in top jobs.

'Those who haven't set themselves a goal or not even set a quota should be hit with tough sanctions,' said Schroeder.

Zetsche said change should come from within companies, rather than politicians, saying he aimed to have 20 per cent of top management positions filled by women by 2020. Last year, the company said 8 per cent of its top jobs were filled by women.

Of the 180 board members of the top 30 DAX companies, just five are women.