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Women managers still rare and earning less

The number of women managers has risen over the past decade in Germany - but they are still earning significantly less than their male counterparts, a new study shows.

Published: 4 September 2012 07:31 CEST

Women managers still rare and earning less

Photo: DPA

In the private sector, the percentage of female managers rose from 22 to 30 percent between 2001 and 2010, a German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) report said on Monday.

Just three percent of executive board members of the country’s largest 200 countries in 2011 were women.

A significant gender pay gap also remains, with women in managerial positions earning on average 21 percent less than men in similar roles. They also had fewer employees reporting to them – 20 subordinates, as opposed to an average of 33 reporting to male bosses, the study revealed.

Younger women surveyed seem to have an easier time reaching managerial posts than older female colleagues, Der Spiegel magazine said on Monday.

“Whether or not the future generations will succeed in balancing work and career better, and can continue to remain in managerial positions during the family phase of their lives, remains to be seen,” said director of the study, Elke Holst.

German Family Minister Kristina Schröder on Monday criticised an EU target to require companies to have a quota of 40 percent women on their supervisory boards.

Schröder told Monday’s Bild newspaper Germany’s women were managing fine without the initiative. “This year alone 40 percent of the open positions on the DAX 30 supervisory boards were filled by women,” she said.

She added it would be “absurd” to have the same quotas for all industries – from steel to the media industry.

“Normal working women need flexible hours instead of strict supervisory board quotas,” she told the paper. “This push completely misses the point of the real-life challenges in Germany.”

The Local/mbw

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Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions.

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds.

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local.

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with.

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