More women are in management and on the board of directors at the largest Swiss companies than ever before. But gender parity, especially at the top, still has a ways to go, according to a report from management recruiting firm Guido Schilling.
The gender gap in the executive teams of the 100 largest Swiss companies narrowed in 2022. The proportion of women increased by two percentage points to 19%, writes executive recruiter Guido Schilling in its annual study published on Friday. When the recruiter’s first study was published 20 years ago, women made up only 4% of executive committee members.
A quarter of the newly appointed executive board members in 2022 were women and a fifth of the companies surveyed have at least three women on the executive team.
“The train is moving fast and cannot be stopped, but it will take a few more years for women to move up from middle management to the very top,” Schilling said.
More progress towards gender parity has been made at the board of directors level where more than half of the companies have more than three women on the board. The share of women rose from 26% to 29% in a year.
The benchmarks set by Swiss politicians for a 20% share of women on management boards and 30% on boards of directors by 2024 are likely to be achieved, said the recruiter. The quotas were set in 2019 but there are no sanctions for non-compliance. Firms that fail to achieve the minimum targets will be required to provide a justification.
At the top
Women are still rare in the CEO suite though. Of the 100 largest Swiss companies, only ten are led by women. Although this is twice as many as two years ago, women remain significantly underrepresented in the CEO suite. During the same period, the number of female chief financial officers increased from seven to 14.
For the first time in 18 years, the average age of the executive teams has fallen. In 2022, the average age dropped three years to 53. The average age of CEOs is 54.
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