Talent pipeline

What does a closer look at different management levels reveal about the state and use of female talent pipelines in companies?

Companies are not fully utilizing their (gender) diverse talent pipelines

While women make up 47% of non-management, only 39% of lowest and lower management promotions are women. Among hires for these levels, women’s share is even slightly lower with 37%. In lowest and lower management, the percentage of women is 33%. This means that, even though hires and promotions contribute to increasing the proportion of women in lowest and lower management levels, there is much more female talent in non-management that companies don’t utilize yet.

We see a similar trend when looking at middle and top management promotions. Women’s share among promotions to higher management levels is 28%, showing that the talent pool in lowest and lower management (33% women) is not well utilized. Also, for middle and top management levels, the proportion of women among new hires is slightly lower than that among promotions (27% vs. 28%).

Minimal progress over time

Progress between 2023 and 2024 regarding the percentage of women in the different management levels is minimal at one percentage point for lowest and lower management and two percentage points for middle and top management. If we look at personnel movements at different management levels, we see mixed results. The percentage of women in lowest/lower management promotions decreased by one percentage point, the one in middle/top management promotions by two percentage points. The numbers show different results for recruitment: Hires for lowest/lower management increased by two percentage points. Those for middle/top management did not change compared to 2023.

“Family primetime” gives men the career edge

Starting around age 30, men gain an advantage over women. This life period can therefore be viewed as a “career killer” for women and a “career accelerator” for men. There is a small gap between the promotion rates of men and women between 21 and 30. That gap is at its widest between the ages of 31-40, and slightly shrinks as people age.

Percentage of promotions by gender and age

The same tendency holds for management hires. The gap between men’s and women’s hiring rates starts between 21 and 30 but is at its widest from 31 to 40.