Managing Diversity in Europe and Austria: Progress in R

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Managing Diversity in Europe and
AustriaProgress in RD and Praxis

• Maria Schwarz-Woelzl
• Erika Pircher
• Diversity Conference 2005 Beijing, China
• July 2005

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Outline

• Managing Diversity in Europe stage before 2000
• 2000 the year of change
• adoption of the two EU anti-discrimination
  directives
• financial instruments supporting equal
  opportunities
• Evidence of progress
• state in Austria
• example of good practice - Austria

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2000 the year of change

• Legal change - two new EU anti-discrimination
  directives
• Racial Equality Directive 2000/43/EC
• Employment Equality Directive 2000/78/EC

• Lisbon Strategy - components of annual
  progress report
• Gender equality
• Work organisation and work-life-balance
• Diversity and Non-discrimination
• Employment of 55 to 64 years old
• Employment of members of third country nationals
• Employment of people with disabilities

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EUs funding (I)

• Action Programme to combat Discrimination
  annually over 100 projects financed
• E.g. five-year pan-European information campaign
  For Diversity. Against Discrimination."
• 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for
  All
• Projected financing 13.6 million EURO

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ECs fundings (II)

• EQUAL Community Initiatives
• 2002 to 2005 2078 development partnerships/projec
  ts
• In Austria 53 projects
• General and vocational programmes of EC
• E.g. Diversity_at_work - LdV project
• European Foundation of Improvement of Living and
  Working Conditions (Dublin)
• Focus on Managing Diversity

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Diversity in RD and Education following 2000

• Scandinavia Anthology of 20 university research
  projects (2002)
• Germany University of Potsdam, Free Univ.
  Berlin, Univ. Witten/Herdecke, Univ. Trier (last
  five years)
• Austria Vienna University of Economics
  Department Gender and Diversity in
  Organisations since 2002

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Diversity in companies following 2000

• Empirical data pertaining 2004
• Diversity becoming significantly more wide-spread
  and deepened in Europe
• Understanding of diversity
• Adapted to broader framework
• Internal communication employee networks most
  of value
• But little attention to age management
• Communication most critical discipline
• Source Stuber (2005) Second European Diversity
  Survey

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Source http//europa.eu.int/comm/employment_socia
l/employment_analysis/diversity_de.htm EC
Panorama of the European Labour markets
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... Austria ...

• Population of 8.09 million
• Since 1995 full member of the EU
• In terms of GDP per capita, one of the richest
  countries in Europe
• Unemployment rate 3.8
• Gender pay gap 30
• Activity rate of older workers 30.8 (EU 25
  40.2, EU 15 41.7)

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Good Practice Age OHSLIFE Programme at
VoeastAlpine

• A programme for all ages - a MNC in the steel
  sector 12.000 workers in Austria
• Formula 33
• Preventive health care
• Ideal working time models
• Young-old-tandems
• LIFE - part of assessments of executives
• Rank as most attractive employer in Austria

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• Maria Schwarz-Woelzl
• Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI)
• Linke Wienzeile 246
• Austria - 1150 Vienna
• http//www.zsi.at
• Emailschwarz_at_zsi.at
• Erika Pircher, PhD
• Diversity CentreMirabellplatz 9Austria 5020
  Salzburg
• http//www.diversitycentre.org
• Email erika.pircher_at_genderlink.com

Thank you for your attention!