Still not on top
March 5, 2011
Chancellor Angela Merkel is turning up the heat on German companies by urging them to step up efforts to promote women into top jobs.
"Germany ranks near the bottom globally, when it comes to women in leading jobs, especially in big companies," she said in her weekly video address on Saturday. "A lot will have to be done in the next few years."
Merkel slammed German companies for not acting on a pledge from 10 years ago to promote more women into the boardroom. She announced a new round of talks with business representatives "in the near future," adding that those talks would be "very results oriented," without going into detail.
The German government is currently struggling to speak with one voice on the issue of women's quotas. Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen had suggested a quota to raise the number of women in the boardroom, which Merkel rejected outright.
Her comments came ahead of the centenary of International Women's Day, which was established by feminists in 1911and then adopted by the United Nations in the 1970s. It is celebrated worldwide on March 8.
Author: Nicole Goebel (dpa, Reuters)
Editor: Kyle James