
During the first reading of the Bundestag today, the Federal Government debated a draft law that would establish a binding quota for women on the executive board of plans for listed companies, the Bavarian chip manufacturer Infineon has already anticipated a possible change in the law at its shareholders’ meeting. Constanze Hufenbecher will be appointed to the company’s board of directors on April 15, 2021. Infineon is thus expanding the Executive Board from four to five members.
Hufenbecher will take over the newly created position of Chief Digital Transformation in the future Officers (CDTO). “In view of the continuously increasing requirements and the increasingly cross-departmental nature of many topics, it makes sense to bundle and expand the relevant competencies in the board of directors,” explains supervisory board chief Wolfgang Eder.
Study: Quota of women increases the level of competence
Hufenbecher worked at Infineon between 2004 and 2009. Most recently, the business graduate held the post of CFO at Lufthansa Technik. At Infineon, she is primarily intended to promote the linking of existing company areas such as development, marketing and sales.
Women’s quota: This is in the Bill of the Federal Government
In the executive boards of the 200 largest German companies lies the proportion of women is currently only 11.5 percent. The federal government’s bill is supposed to change that. Listed companies whose management board consists of more than three people should in future have to appoint at least one woman to the management body. At least if they are companies with equal co-determination.
In addition, companies that have a target quota of Put zero percent women on the board of directors; If they do not, sanctions are threatened.
The bill would currently affect around 70 listed companies with equal co-determination, from 30 of whom have no women on the board. The German Trade Union Federation welcomes the draft law, but calls for further steps. Greens and leftists also criticize the fact that the current draft law falls short. The FDP and AfD, in turn, generally reject a mandatory quota for women.