In the business year 2010/11, the percentage of female executives (members of the Management Board excepted) was at about 10%, the same as in the previous year. Within the scope of internal leadership development efforts, great importance is being placed on continuing to expand the percentage of female participants. Therefore, the relative resolution by the Management Board stipulates that women must be represented at each level of training. In the business year 2010/11, there were 18 women of a total of 133 participants (13.5%).
Overall, the percentage of women in the voestalpine Group in the business year 2010/11 was about 13%. This percentage is still low compared to other sectors of the economy, and this has industry-specific, historical, and cultural reasons. In the consciousness of the public, the image of a steel and processing company is still the image of heavy industry and, therefore, broad-based recruitment of female employees is a challenging undertaking.
None of the Group companies have explicit “female quotas.” Rather, the voestalpine Group is striving to implement appropriate measures in order to increase the percentage of women in the Group at all levels. This includes a number of activities, some of which are country-specific, such as participation in Girl’s Day, advancement of women in technical professions, and/or increased hiring of female graduates of technical schools and universities. As a result of these efforts, women are now employed in top leadership positions in traditionally male-dominated, technical areas of the Company (e.g., hot-dip galvanizing plants, wire production facilities) and are in executive positions in financial and legal departments of various Group companies, both in Austria and abroad.
In annual human resources reporting, data on the percentage of women in executive positions is collected and analyzed regularly according to their qualifications and their status in the training programs in order to monitor the sustainability of the implemented measures.