What does a closer look at different management levels reveal about the state and use of female talent pipelines in companies?
Although women represent 46% of non-management roles, they account for only 41% of promotions to the lowest and lower management levels. Among hires for these levels, women’s share is even slightly lower with 39%. Currently, women make up 35% of lowest and lower management overall. This shows that while promotions and hiring do help increase the proportion of women in these levels, a large portion of female talent in non-management remains untapped.
A similar trend can be seen in promotions to middle and top management. Women make up 33% of these promotions, showing that the talent pool in lowest and lower management, where women are 35%, is not being fully used. However, for middle and top management levels, the proportion of women among new hires is slightly higher than that among promotions (36% vs. 33%).
Women in middle/top management
+2 percentage point
Middle/top management hires
+9 percentage points
Middle/top management promotions
+5 percentage points
Women in lowest/lower management
+2 percentage points
Lowest/lower management hires
+2 percentage points
Lowest/lower management promotions
+2 percentage points
Women in non-management
-1 percentage point
Progress between 2024 and 2025 regarding the percentage of women in the different management levels is minimal at two percentage points for lowest and lower management, but five percentage points for middle and top management. If we look at personnel movements at different management levels, we see positive results. The percentage of women in lowest/lower management promotions increased by two percentage points, the one in middle/top management promotions even by nine percentage points. The numbers show similar results for recruitment: Hires for lowest/lower management increased by two percentage points. Those for middle/top management by five percentage points compared to 2024.