No. CCXXV; December 15, 2014
I. GERMANY JOINS EUROPEAN ECONOMIES AND PASSES QUOTA LAW FOR WOMEN ON BOARDS
II. SOME OF THE LEADING WOMEN AT THE 2015 GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN IN BRAZIL
III. 2015 COLLOQUIUM ON GLOBAL DIVERSITY — NEW YORK
IV. U.S. WOMEN WORKERS LAG BEHIND EUROPEANS IN WORK/LIFE BENEFITS
I. GERMANY JOINS EUROPEAN ECONOMIES AND PASSES QUOTA LAW FOR WOMEN ON BOARDS
Beginning in 2016, the top listed companies in Germany must have 30% women’s representation in their Supervisory Boards. “The law is an important step for equality, because it will initiate change in the workplace” states Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, who initially opposed the law but supported it recently adding that “We can’t afford to do without the skills of women.”
If a company does not reach the 30% quota, open board seats will be left vacant until women are found to fill these seats. According to Spiegel Online data, only 17.4% of board directors are women in the 160 largest publicly-traded companies, while only 6.1% of management board positions are held by women. There are German companies, which have done better than others in appointing women directors, and in Corporate Women Directors International’s (CWDI) latest report on “Women Directors in the Fortune Global 200,” two German companies made it to CWDI’s Top Ten listing of best performers: Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Post.
“I applaud Germany’s move to speed up the appointment of women to board seats. As the largest economy in Europe, Germany can influence other countries with which it conducts business,” states CWDI Chair Irene Natividad. CWDI research shows that 23 countries now have quotas for women directors either for publicly-listed or state-owned companies. To see which countries have these mandates in place, go to www.globewomen.org, click to CWDI, or click here. (Source: BBCNews.com, 11/26/14)
II. SOME OF THE LEADING WOMEN AT THE 2015 GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN
For its 25th anniversary as a global business and economic forum for women, the Global Summit of Women has convened a stellar group of business leaders to mark women’s economic achievements the past 25 years under the ‘umbrella’ of its theme — “Creative Women, Creative Economies.” Scheduled for May 14-16th, 2015, and hosted by the 7th largest economy in the world — Brazil — the Summit will open with market trends in the Latin American region presented by the InterAmerican Development Bank’s Executive Vice President Julie Katzman. Looking forward, IBM’s Watson Group Vice President Micehlle Unger will share how technology will change people’s lives in the next 25 years through the yet-unknown role of robotics, and women’s roles in that domain.
Julie Katzman, Michelle Unger, Fatima Raimondi, and Luiza Trajano are a few of the speakers at the 2015 Global Summit of Women.
Two Brazilian business leaders at the Summit exemplify how far women have come in this nation’s economy. Fatima Raimondi leads Acision in Latin America, an Anglo-Dutch mobile communications company based in London. With over 20 years experience in the communications industry, Ms. Raimondi was formerly the President of Ericsson Brazil. Currently, Ms. Raimondi is also on the Board of Natura Corporation and on the Advisory Board of Melita do Brasil.
In Brazil’s entrepreneurial world, Luiza Trajano is a household name, because the chain of retail stores she leads – Magazine Luiza – provides products that literally enter the majority of Brazilian households. Named by Forbes Brazil as one of the country’s “most influential women”, Ms. Trajano formed a group of female achievers, Mulheres do Brasil, upon the suggestion of the country’s President, Dilma Rousseff. Their current goal is to move further along a quota for women directors in the country’s largest companies. (For more information on the 2015 Global Summit of Women and to take advantage of Early-Bird Registration, log on to www.globewomen.org/globalsummit.)
III. 2015 COLLOQUIUM ON GLOBAL DIVERSITY — NEW YORK
Top experts in Human Resource and Diversity practices will convene on February 26-27, 2015, in New York at Metlife Corporation to share what works in developing women’s talents and leadership in the corporate workplace. Now in its 14th year, the Colloquium is organized by the Global Summit of Women to bring cross-border exchanges, especially for executives working for multinational companies, whose employees span numerous countries.
Senior diversity executives gather at 2014 Colloquium on Global Diversity at Metlife in New York.
Providing a look forward at global trends which impact on talent recruitment in the coming years is Korn Ferry Senior Director Andres Tapia, who will share highlights from his report, “Global Morphosis.” Providing a look backward is McKinsey Director Emeritus Joanna Barsh, who has led training program for women over the years. She will share her ‘long view’ of what works and doesn’t work in moving women toward senior roles in corporations. The backdrop of her presentation are the numerous McKinsey reports over the years — the “Women Matter” series — highlighting women’s key contributions to the bottom line and issuing recommendations on how to grow the cadre of women executives globally.
Bringing the perspective of Europe and Latin America are Laura Gonzalez, President of Bayer Latin America, who hails from Spain, and Patricia Gonzalez Torado of Mexico, who serves on PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Executive Board. Both will give the perspective of those in charge as well as share their prescriptions for change benefitting women. Among other topics at the Colloquium is how technology can help in the work of Diversity executives. Laura Mather, CEO of Unitive, will present a software-based initiative that aims to root out unconscious biases in the recruitment process. Sam Jones, CEO of Data Morphosis, will present a case study of a company using the software ‘Gender Gap’, developed by his team which merges big data collected by many corporations to show the business case behind gender diversity. For additional topics covered at the 2015 Colloquium and a list of presenters, please log onto www.globewomen.org/globaldiversity.
IV. U.S. WOMEN WORKERS LAG BEHIND EUROPEAN IN WORK/LIFE BENEFITS
For the first time in six decades, the percentage of U.S. women between the ages of 25 and 54 in the workforce has declined from a peak of 74% in 1999 to 69% today. In contrast, the reverse is true in other countries where the percentage of women working continue to increase. Now outranking the U.S. in women’s labor force participation are Australia, Switzerland, Germany, France, Canada, and yes, Japan.
The reason for the drop will not surprise anyone. A New York Times/CBS News/Kaiser Family Foundation survey showed 61% of U.S. women citing family responsibilities as the reason for stepping out of the workplace. Unlike European countries with more generous paid parental leave policies, the U.S. only has an unpaid 12-week leave for new parents, many of whom are in their prime career and child-bearing years. Some companies provide varying amounts of time for paid leave, but those are few and far between. For low- and middle-income households, the high cost of child care outweighs wages earned.
While European working mothers are better able to maintain employment after childbirth, many are trapped in part-time work, 20-40% in the Eurozone, according to the OECD, or limited access to career-track jobs. A study showed that while U.S. men and women can equally aspire for managerial posts, women are half as likely as men to be managers in Europe. The challenge is how to keep a growing share of women employed or allow them good jobs with career paths. Neither Europe nor the U.S. has found a way to do both whether it is through government policy or as a market-driven initiative. (Source: “The Flexibility Gap,” New York Times, 12/14/14)
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France’s Minister for Women, Cities, Youth, and Sports Najat Vallaud-Belkacem hands over the Summit to Brazilian delegates at the Closing Ceremony of the 2014 Summit in Paris.
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