Top German companies urge more women hires, but resist legislation

Oct 17, 2011, 12:34 GMT

Berlin - Major German companies offered Monday to increase hiring of women for senior management jobs, but resisted proposals during talks with senior cabinet ministers in Berlin to legislate quotas.

Germany's dismal performance in promoting women to top business jobs, despite having a woman, Angela Merkel, as chancellor, has prompted Labour Minister Ursula von der Leyen, a mother of seven, to seek a law reserving a fraction of jobs for women.

The 30 blue chip corporations whose shares make up the Frankfurt Stock Exchange DAX index unveiled at the meeting a voluntary code of practice that would reserve 35 per cent of senior management jobs for women.

The 'catalogue' of guidelines set out targets to be achieved by 2020. Von der Leyen shot back that the guidelines set out no quota for the highest jobs on executive boards and supervisory boards.

A recent count showed only seven out of nearly 190 executive board members at the 30 companies are female. The catalogue only referred to the category of positions that ranges from board posts down to regional executives.

Von der Leyen said she would continue to push for a law on quotas.

She was opposed by Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger. Her party, the Free Democrats, has called for business to be allowed to self-regulate on the issue for two more years.

The third party in the Merkel coalition, the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU), also rejected legal quotas.

'You won't get a law on women's quotas when the CSU is around,' said the party leader, Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer, on Monday.

Four ministers attended the Berlin meeting to air the controversial proposal.

In 2003, Norway passed a law which obliged publicly listed firms to give 40 per cent of boardroom seats to women by 2008. Spain followed suit with a similar law in 2007 and France did earlier this year.