Numbers dwindling: There is still a lack of women in Swiss boardrooms

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Actually, there should be good news: Switzerland’s 100 largest employers now meet the gender criteria required by politicians. One in five companies currently has more than 30 percent women on their boards. “This year’s results still leave a bitter taste in the mouth,” says Guido Schilling (64) at the presentation of the Schilling Report 2024. The report takes a closer look at gender development in Swiss governance.

Although the 100 largest Swiss companies have reached the minimum political standards, this also means that almost one in four companies still operates without a female member of the board of directors. In other companies, the steady upward trend in the proportion of women in senior management seems to have at least stopped. The strong upward trend that has been going on for years (only four percent of companies were able to meet this quota in 2018) has officially been broken.

High volatility among business executives

Schilling was not surprised that the political benchmarks were achieved. “Now that the basic homework has been done, the focus is on the patterns to observe.” He is particularly concerned about the high volatility of women in management of large Swiss companies. According to the figures, more women resigned from management positions last year than in previous years. What was striking, according to Schilling, was that female directors’ tenure on the board when they left office after three years was significantly shorter than their male counterparts’ seven years.

“It is unlikely that such a short relationship will be sustainable,” Schilling said at the presentation of the report. He sees one explanation for the higher volatility as women on boards coming from outside the company more often than men and not being appointed from within the company. Accordingly, they would first need to get used not only to the new role, but also to the company and its culture. On the other hand, those promoted internally already know the company-specific DNA and are already networked, which helps position them for a position.

Increasingly foreign bosses

A total of 55 percent of the newly appointed board members do not have a Swiss passport. When looked at by gender, this rate is 51 percent for men and 66 percent for women. The composition of companies listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SMI groups) is much more international. On average, 73 percent of board members are foreigners, with 68 percent of men and 85 percent of women not holding a Swiss passport.

It is also noteworthy that women, whose average age among the new management members is 49, were three years younger than their male counterparts when they joined the management. On average, they are appointed at the age of 52. “Female directors are younger, are promoted earlier, are less likely to have a Swiss passport and stay on the board for significantly shorter periods of time than their male counterparts,” says Schilling, summarizing the report. (rule/sda)

Source :Blick