According to executives, in more than half of the 250 companies surveyed, “no coherent equality measures have been anchored or implemented in the company’s goals,” as the consulting firm Deloitte explains in a study published on Thursday.
Employees cited flexible organization of working hours and locations as well as childcare options as “effective measures”.
Around 90 percent of the companies surveyed already offer the “opportunity for flexible working hours and location-independent work,” it goes on to say. Part-time management and job sharing also exist in almost half of these companies.
However, it is mainly women who hold management positions part-time, so unpaid childcare and employment income are not evenly distributed between the genders, criticizes Elisa Aichinger from Deloitte Austria.
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Few women in upper management levels
According to Deloitte, women are underrepresented at the highest levels of management. However, every second company wants to change this in the coming years. However, according to the survey, 13 percent of companies complain regarding a lack of qualified women to fill top positions. Deloitte pointed out a certain discrepancy, with more women than men obtaining a university degree.
According to the study, the main responsibility for an equal working world for men lies primarily with individual actions (36 percent). Women are therefore more likely to see politics (35 percent) and companies (42 percent) in charge.
Technical professions are still in low demand
The gender perspective also differs when it comes to job choice, as women are an exception, especially in well-paid technical professions. The men surveyed see the reason primarily as a lack of interest and too few female graduates. The women surveyed tended to blame a lack of role models, conservative role models and prejudices on the part of management.
In view of International Women’s Day on March 8th, a total of 500 employees and 250 managers, one per company, were surveyed for the study.
