In the business year 2022/23, the percentage of female executives1 was 13.6%, thus up slightly from 12.9% in the previous business year. One woman has been appointed to a divisional management position since the business year 2013/14.
As part of internal leadership development efforts, great importance is placed on continuing to increase the number of female participants. The Group thus takes care to ensure that women are represented at each training level of the Leadership Development Program (“value:program”). Thanks to the consistent implementation of the Group’s self-imposed commitment to boost the employment of women in all of the Group’s divisions, the share of women in voestalpine’s three-stage executive development program (pre-stage, stage 1, stage 2: total of 215 female and male participants) in the business year 2022/23 was raised to an impressive 23.3% (previous year: 12.2%).
Overall, the percentage of women in the voestalpine Group in the business year 2022/23 was 15.7% (previous year: 15.4%). There are industry-specific, historical, and cultural reasons for this percentage—which remains low compared with other industries. In the public’s consciousness, the image of a steel and technology group still conforms to the image of heavy industry, with the result that broad-based recruitment of female employees is a challenging undertaking. Nonetheless, the percentage of women in the voestalpine Group among salaried employees up to the age of 30 is now about 39.3%. Despite all of our efforts, however, women still only account for a mere 9.7% among workers.
None of the voestalpine Group companies currently uses explicit “female quotas” when filling particular positions. Instead, the general aim is to raise the percentage of women in the Group at all levels through appropriate measures that will have a long-term effect. This includes a number of activities, some of which are country-specific, e.g., participation in the “Girls’ Day,” the specific advancement of women in technical trades requiring apprenticeships, and/or boosting the hiring of female graduates of technical schools and universities. In addition, the establishment and expansion of in-house child care facilities and/or collaborations with external facilities is being accelerated. Such facilities and collaborations can be found at the Group’s plants in Linz and Leoben/Donawitz, Austria, for instance. These offerings are supplemented by flexible work and shift models; enhanced technical training geared to women; upskilling opportunities for apprentices and assistants; mentoring programs; special health programs; guidance on equality and non-discrimination; and so forth. As a result of these efforts, by now women are also employed in leadership positions in the company’s traditionally male-dominated, technical areas. Women also hold executive positions in the financial, legal, strategic, communications, and human resources departments in a number of Group companies.
As part of the annual Human Resources Report, data on the percentage of women in executive positions is regularly collected and analyzed based on qualifications and training programs for the purpose of monitoring the long-term impact of all measures.
1 The basis of the calculation is the number of employees (headcount).
