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Government to meet with DAX firms over women execs

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Government to meet with DAX firms over women execs
photo: DPA

The federal government is planning a meeting with human resources directors from Germany's 30 DAX companies to tackle the issue of an absence of women in top management jobs, according to a newspaper report.

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The meeting, according to the Tuesday edition of the daily Passauer Neue Presse, will be held on March 30 and aims to find ways to increase the number of female executives without resorting to a legally binding quota.

The event will be hosted by Family Minister Kristina Schröder, Labour Minister Ursula von der Leyen, both of the Christian Democratic Party, as well as Economy Minister Rainer Brüderle and Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger of the Free Democrats.

Tuesday is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day and both the Social Democrats and the Greens have used the event to criticize the low number of women in Germany's top jobs and call again for a mandatory quota.

The DGB labour union association said it was shameful that only 9.4 percent of Germany's supervisory boards and 3 percent of its executive boards are made up of women.

Over the weekend, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the government to work with industry to increase the presence of women in executive suites.

"Germany trails badly in global comparisons when it comes to the number of women in leading positions in the private sector, especially in big companies," she said.

However, Merkel has come out against a mandatory quota, saying the government still wanted to give companies the opportunity to improve the situation on their own.

The survey last month conducted by daily Berliner Zeitung indicated that 21 of the 30 DAX corporations reject the idea of a quota.

Only the Munich-based insurance giant Allianz came out tentatively in favour of a mandatory quota. Eight DAX corporations declined to take a position on the debate, while the rest said they were opposed.

DAPD/kdj

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