Germany set to introduce 'historic' boardroom quota to boost women representation

Germany is set to introduce a mandatory quota system to boost women's representation in boardrooms after its voluntary system failed to achieve the goal for gender equality at workplaces. According to The Guardian, Germany's ruling coalition has agreed to a deal that would require top companies, that have no more than three management board members, to have at least one woman.

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Germany ranks bottom among major economies

According to the report, the deal, which is being termed as historic, was agreed on Friday by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and their coalition partner the Social Democrats. The move comes after Germany was ranked bottom among major world economies in terms of women's representation in boardrooms. The deal is expected to boost Germany's ranking on the list of major countries with the highest number of women in management posts. 

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Currently, the United States occupies the top position with 28.6% of women at management levels in the largest American companies. A survey has found only 12.8% of women make up the management boards of the 30 largest German companies, way below the UK's 24.5% and France's 22.2%.

The research, which has been done by the Swedish-German AllBright foundation, also stated that the number of firms in the top 30 German companies' list with no women at management levels has increased from six in the previous year to 11 in 2020. 

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The coalition deal, which Germany’s federal minister for women said will put an end to women-free boardrooms, will require companies to have at least 30 percent representation of women on supervisory boards. However, businesses are likely to express disappointment with the deal as they have been for a long arguing that the move is interference in private enterprise. 

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(Image Credit: AP)