The company in the Berlin district of Steglitz-Zellendorf is writing the history of the company and perhaps even of the city: in the Knauer family business, Zehlendorf manufactures laboratory equipment and made a name for itself during the corona pandemic with innovative production systems for lipid nanoparticles for the production of mRNA vaccines, women now earn more than men.
“Now there is a bit of a sensation, because according to the current data of the company’s equal opportunities officer, the wage gap in the classical sense has not only disappeared, but women in the company now earn on average 1.36% more than their male colleagues. “, the das company writes in a press release.
In 2022, men in the company still earned 2.2 percent more than female employees. “Our guiding principle is net zero, and we’re closer to it than ever before,” says managing director Alexandra Knauer.
Steglitz-Zellendorf is the district of Berlin with the largest number of women
For comparison, in Berlin the wage gap between men and women is ten percent, and on average nationally, men even earn 18 percent more than their female colleagues in the same profession. Steglitz-Zellendorf is the district of Berlin with the largest number of women: 52.8% are women. This is mainly due to the elderly, out of 100 residents of the district, 27 are over 65 years old; in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg there are only eleven.
We are proud to have one of the smallest gender pay gaps in Germany.
Katarina Paul, equal opportunities specialist
Back to Zehlendorf: There are reasons why Knauer is so good with fair pay. The share of women in management positions is 50 percent, salary structures are transparent, and there are programs for the advancement of women.
“We are proud that the pay gap between men and women is one of the smallest in Germany,” says Katharina Pohl, an equal opportunities officer. But she also sees room for improvement: “We will continue to work to ensure fair pay and equal opportunities for women and men, and for people from different backgrounds.”
The improvement in pay equity in Germany from 23 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2021 is too slow.
Alexandra Knauer, general director
In relation to the overall development, boss Alexandra Knauer is impatient: “Improving wage equality in Germany from 23 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2021 is too slow,” she says, “at this rate Germany will need another 50 years, to equalize. She urges all company managers to calculate the difference in salaries in their company. – That’s how I started a few years ago.
Zehlendorf is a medium-sized company with 180 employees – the company is expanding: currently looking for accountants, chemists, biotechnologists and electrical engineers, storekeepers, physicists and a production team leader – male, female or other. And another distinguishing feature of Knauer: Knauer is not stingy, employees share in the company’s profits. And there is also a BVG company ticket and a subsidy for a company bicycle.
Here are the topics from the current Tagesspiegel newsletter for Steglitz-Zehlendorf
Released every Thursday Tagesspiegel newsletter for Steglitz-Zehlendorf. It is available in full once a week with lots of area specific news, advice and dates on tagesspiegel.de/bezirke. This time, Boris Buchholts talks about, among other things, the following topics:
- A little sensation: At Knauer in Zellendorf, women earn more than men
- Villa Schocken: Department Store Giant and Patron Salman Schocken Lived in Zellendorf Until the Nazis Expelled Him and His Family – Interview, Book, Seven Barriers and Film
- Southwest SPD doesn’t want black and red: Comrades are in favor of a red-green-red senate
- Who is negotiating the coalition
- Attention citizens: The planning approval procedure for the conversion of Zehlendorf S-Bahn station has started, the plans are out – there should be massive construction between 2026 and 2030, including the closure of Teltower Damm
- Access to the S-Bahn from Postplatz and Machnower Straße, which is desirable in the area, is not part of the plans: Reactions of citizens and politicians
- What takes a long time finally makes room: The transformation of Hermann-Ehlers-Platz may be coming
- Hindenburg Dam: One construction is underway, the other construction is coming – and will stand until 2026
- Closed farms, bike paths, housing and sewage treatment plants: During Schinkel’s competition, ideas for the future of the autobahn bridge at Breitenbachplatz and the A104 were born
- 23. Lichterfelder jazz and blues scene: Upcoming concerts (for which tickets are still available)
- Shades of Gray 50s: New exhibition about women and war in Teltava
- Invitation: Memorial trip to the former Flossenbürg concentration camp
- From 700 to 189 steps: Gardeners in Lankwitz and Südende fight for protection from development – B101 story
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