The Absence of Women in the ICT-sector

Transcription

1 The Absence of Women in the ICT-sector A research project conducted by AIAS, University of Amsterdam commissioned by FNV Bondgenoten, Utrecht August 1999 Caroline van den Brekel Maarten van Klaveren Kea Tijdens

2 Bits and bugs on the ICT-labourmarket A column of Ans van Uffelen, Union official of FNV Bondgenoten Waarom kiezen maar weinig vrouwen voor de ICT-sector? Juist nu er een schreeuwend tekort is aan ICT-personeel, zou je verwachten dat dit een hot item is voor bedrijven. Slechts 11% van de medewerkers is immers vrouw. In andere sectoren is dat gemiddeld bijna 40%. Dus is er nog een wereld te winnen voor ICT-bedrijven, zou je denken. Er is een potentieel dat nog nauwelijks aangeboord is. Toch speelt het niet. Ook niet in de hoofden van de vele experts en wetenschappers die op verzoek van de overheid inmiddels tal van taskforces bevolken op zoek naar de enig echte oplossing van het huidige arbeidsmarktprobleem. Men kijkt naar aantallen schoolverlaters, men dringt aan op meer reclame voor exacte en technische opleidingen, men pleit voor een bredere inzet van PC s in het onderwijs. Daarmee tezelfdertijd het beeld bevestigend dat er van de sector bestaat: in de ICT werken alleen jonge honden en techneuten. Het blijkt dat juist daarom anderen, waaronder vrouwen, zich niet aangesproken voelen. Ziehier de loupe waarin de ICT-sector terechtgekomen is. Er zijn geen vrouwen, dus zien we ze niet. En omdat we ze niet zien, komen ze ook niet. Een merkwaardige bug in het programma dat ICT-arbeidsmarkt heet. Dit onderzoek stelt zich de vraag wel: waar blijven de vrouwen!? De ICT-sector is een relatief jonge sector, die geen last meer zou moeten hebben van traditionele denkbeelden over man-vrouw-verhoudingen. Toch komen ze voor: de wenkbrauwen die fronsend opgetrokken worden als blijkt dat de helpdeskmedewerker een vrouw is. Weet ze er wel genoeg van? Is er wel een man in de buurt die haar kan helpen als ze er niet uit komt? Of de onzekere blikken van klanten als een man en een vrouw een projectvoorstel toelichten: is zij nou ook consultant of heeft ze alleen de plaatjes gemaakt? Hoe jong ook, de ICT-sector is geen eiland. Ook hier moeten vrouwen zich eerst bewijzen. De vraag is of vrouwen daar zin in hebben, zeker als er op geen enkele manier tegemoet gekomen wordt aan andere wensen die zij hebben. Zoals het kunnen combineren van leuk werk en een bruisend privé-leven. Zoals het houden van uitdaging in het werk. Zoals je eigen werktijden kunnen bepalen. In plaats daarvan raast de sector over de wensen van vrouwen heen: geen tijd, we hebben te weinig personeel. Onderzoek van Bureau Berenschot wijst uit dat bijna de helft van de vrouwelijke medewerkers onder de 24 jaar het afgelopen jaar haar baan heeft opgezegd in de automatiseringssector. Het aantal mannelijke vertrekkers in dezelfde leeftijdscategorie bedroeg slechts zeven procent. Dit lijkt een beetje op het welbekende paard dat achter de wagen gespannen wordt. Komt u binnen, mevrouw, de achterdeur is die kant op... In dit onderzoek hebben we gekeken naar wat bedrijven wel doen om vrouwelijke medewerkers te werven en aan zich te binden. Het aantal voorzieningen dat getroffen wordt blijkt bedroevend weinig te zijn. Deeltijdwerken is praktisch niet mogelijk, al mag je het in een toenemend aantal bedrijven wel vragen. Regelingen rond kinderopvang en verlof staan nog in hun kinderschoenen. De enkeling die zegt zich extra in te spannen voor vrouwen, voert dit niet uit. Eveneens bedroevend is dat het nauwelijks uitmaakt of arbeidsvoorwaarden afgesproken zijn met vakorganisaties of met anderen. Die kunnen wij weer in onze zak steken. Er is ook voor vakorganisaties nog een boel te doen dus. Gelukkig

3 zegt dit ook iets over de kwaliteit van de anderen die arbeidsvoorwaardenregelingen treffen. Die benadert die van vakorganisaties. Opvallend ook is dat bedrijven niet op zoek zijn naar vrouwen. Een analyse van 550 personeelsadvertenties van 33 bedrijven levert welgeteld 6 advertenties waarin het woord vrouw valt. Dat blijken ook nog secretaressefuncties te zijn. Daarentegen wordt in 66% van de advertenties een academische of HBO-achtergrond gevraagd en in 86% van de advertenties een technische opleiding. Uit eerder onderzoek van Opportunity in Bedrijf blijkt dat vrouwen hier juist door afgeschrikt worden. Het pleidooi van brancheorganisatie Fenit om vrouwen explicieter aan te spreken in personeelsadvertenties heeft helaas dus nog geen opvolging gekregen. En dan te bedenken dat de eerste programmeurs vrouwen waren. Adele Goldstine maakte de programmatuur voor ENIAC, de eerste elektronische computer in de VS. Grace Hopper schreef COBOL, de eerste programmeertaal. Waar blijven dan de advertenties : Vrouwen gezocht?! Vakorganisaties, bedrijven, opleidingsinstituten en overheid zouden de handen ineen moeten slaan om de schaarste aan ICT-personeel nu eens werkelijk aan te pakken. Zonder uitsluiting van groepen potentiële kandidaten, juist gebruik makend van ieders eigen inbreng en kwaliteit. Wij nemen daarin graag het initiatief door alle betrokkenen uit te nodigen voor een seminar op 2 november aanstaande. Doel ervan is een platform te creëren voor ideeënuitwisseling. Hoe behouden we vrouwen voor de ICT-sector? Is er een balans te vinden tussen werk en privé-leven in de snelle wereld die ICT heet? Eigenlijk is dit niet eens een vrouwenissue, maar in toenemende mate een mensenissue. Afsluitend zou ik dan ook willen zeggen: waar blijven de mannen?! Ans van Uffelen Bestuurder Informatietechnologie en Elektrotechnische industrie. FNV Bondgenoten

4 Contents Preface 6 Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Facts and figures on the labour market in the ICT sector Introducing the ICT sector Recruiting women in the ICT sector 5 Chapter 3 Terms of employment Introducing industrial relations in the ICT sector Firm-related training Working hours Sabbatical leave Part-time working hours CLA a la carte Overtime work Parental leave Childcare arrangements Affirmative action Sexual harassment 19 Chapter 4 Study of advertisements in ICT sector Introduction Positions Educational demands Non-male chauvinism Childcare arrangements Part-time possibilities Overtime work and working at inconvenient hours Demand for technical skills Demand for communicative skills Demand for executive skills Demand for organisational skills 30

5 Chapter 5 Women-related actions and terms of employment Introduction Bull Lucent Debis EDS Origin Cap Gemini Compaq Floppy Summary 46 Chapter 6 Summary and Conclusions Terms of Employment Study of Personnel Advertisements Women-related Policies Recommendations Epilogue 53 References 55 Glossary 57 Appendix 1 Segregation in the History of IT Occupations 59 Appendix 2 Terms of employment 67 Appendix 3 Study of advertisements 69

6 Preface This report presents the results of a study on women in the ICT sector, commissioned by FNV Bondgenoten. FNV Bondgenoten is a merger of four Dutch unions, affiliated with the FNV confederation: the Industriebond, Voedingsbond, Vervoersbond and Dienstenbond. The ICT sector is part of the IT/ET sector, one of the fifteen sectors in which FNV Bondgenoten has divided itself and in which the new union is a partner in negotiations on Collective Labour Agreements (CLA s). In the ICT sector, only a small share of the work force is female. FNV Bondgenoten commissioned this research in order to answer the following questions: why are so few women working in the ICT sector and what can be done to make the sector more appealing to women? The study was carried out by the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced labour Studies (AIAS), an interdisciplinary academic institute of the University of Amsterdam, by dr. Kea Tijdens and drs. Caroline van den Brekel. Kea Tijdens currently is research co-ordinator at AIAS, and Caroline van den Brekel is AIAS researcher. In a final stage of the study, Maarten van Klaveren, researcher/consultant of STZ advies & onderzoek in Eindhoven, made a substantial contribution. The study merely focuses on the terms of employment in the ICT sector, especially on the CLA s. This has been done because if FNV Bondgenoten wants to augment the share of women in the work force and improve their position in the ICT sector, they have to realise this by using the instrument of the CLA. We would sincerely like to thank all persons we interviewed and all those who answered the questionnaire by . We especially extend our thanks to the paid union officials and union activists of the committee that supported the study: Ans van Uffelen (FNV Bondgenoten), Els Salverda (FNV Bondgenoten), Mariska Stuivenberg (FNV Bondgenoten), Anita van Stel (Bull), and Jopie Zasburg (Philips). Caroline van den Brekel and Kea Tijdens AIAS, University of Amsterdam August 25, 1999

7 Chapter 1 Introduction The image of the ICT sector is dominated by long working days, earning loads of money and big lease cars. A tension exists between this culture and the desire of a growing number of employees to work part-time. Especially women, but also an increasing number of men, are not able to realise their wishes regarding working hours. They often cannot decide freely on the timing of their holidays, they have to work at inconvenient hours, they have to follow courses in their leisure time, they cannot go on parental leave, et cetera. This situation exists in spite of the characteristics of the ICT sector, being extremely suitable for systems of working hours adapted to employees wishes. Systems of hours registration are in use, employees often work on different projects at the same time, the technical possibilities for teleworking and working at home are well developed, et cetera. Employers arguments such as permanent availability and permanent presence are not even valid in the current situation, regardless whether employees work full-time or part-time. Moreover, labour is in short supply in the ICT sector. Thus, it would be wise for ICT employers to give current and future employees wishes on working hours serious consideration. Besides the image of long working days, the ICT sector also has a quite explicit technical image. In the last decade, a gap is growing between the positioning of computer science education as natural science, and the fact that many ICT jobs more and more require communicative and social skills. ICT applicants have to meet certain technical requirements, while those looking for positions where communicative and social skills are important are generally not attracted to the ICT sector. Due to the technical image and the image of long working days, women in particular are hardly attracted to ICT jobs. Yet, with labour in short supply, it is very important for the ICT sector to broaden the image of the sector. The image of the sector has to change in order to enlarge the influx of employees, especially female employees. This study examines the reasons why so few women are employed in the ICT sector. Is the absence of part-time working hours the main reason? Can a breakthrough be expected, now labour is in short supply? To answer these questions, a research design along the following questions has been used: What is the current situation on the labour market in the ICT sector? Chapter 2 describes the current situation in the ICT sector. The data were collected through a literature review. Which female-friendly terms of employment do ICT companies have? To answer this question, twelve Collective Labour Agreements (CLA s) and terms of employment summaries have been studied. Chapter 3 describes the terms of employment of a few selected companies that are important to female employees. How female friendly are the recruitment campaigns in the ICT sector? Are women attracted by personnel advertisements of the ICT sector? To answer these questions, almost 550 personnel advertisements were screened. The advertisements were checked 1

8 on those aspects that contribute to a non-male chauvinist character, and the resulting data were statistically analysed. The results can be found in Chapter 4. Do companies in the ICT sector have specific policies to attract women? If they have such policies, how are they implemented and what are the results? Chapter 5 goes into the female-oriented policies of seven selected companies. The information concerning their policies was collected by a questionnaire, answered by these seven companies. Chapter 6 summarises the results of this study. Here, we do a number of recommendations to attract women to the ICT sector. 2

9 Chapter 2 Facts and figures on the labour market in the ICT sector Why is the proportion of female ICT professionals so low? Based on a review of earlier research, this chapter treats the ICT labour market. The first section is about the current situation on the labour market in the ICT sector, while the second section goes into recruiting women to the ICT sector. 2.1 Introducing the ICT sector In this report, a broad definition is used for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the related work force. Our first chapters relate to the ICT sector in its broad sense, more or less congruent with the grouping of members in the IT/ET sector as is in use by FNV Bondgenoten. When it comes to the study of the terms of employment, we had to narrow our object to a number of companies producing administrative and industrial hardware and software, and supplying related services, as well as software houses, thus covering the first five categories in which the total sector can be divided. 1 The latter five categories, including organisation/accountancy and engineering agencies, facilities management and other outsoaring suppliers, and EDP departments of various firms, are left out because they did not have (own) CLA s. During the eighties, employment in ICT occupations has risen considerably in the Netherlands. In the beginning of the nineties, growth stagnated, but since 1994 ICT employment is rising again quickly. Between 1994 and 1997, the number of ICT professionals counted by yearly labour market scans increased from 107,000 to 143,000 2, implying an annual growth of 10 percent. CBS (Statistics Netherlands), using slightly different definitions, noted the same rate of growth of ICT staff in the private sector, although their figures showed that the growth rate fell down to 7 percent in As experts on labour market issues claim, high growth figures are likely to continue in the next decade Cf. Bouwman, Th., Camp, A. van de, Tom, T., Net werk. Over werken in de automatisering, Amsterdam, STZ advies & onderzoek, March 1994, p. 4. People working over 20 hours/week and spending 75 percent or more of their working time on automation issues. Their numbers rise by about 60 percent if those spending 25 percent or more are included. Plekker, M., IT ers in staatjes, BAM 98 brengt automatiseringsmarkt in kaart, in Computable, April 10, 1998, no.15, p.70. CBS, Automatiseringsstatistieken Particuliere sector ; Automatiseringsstatistieken Particuliere sector Plekker, ibid. 3

10 CBS figures give the most reliable division by industry. According to these figures, the largest concentration of ICT staff in the private sector can be found in computer service and ICT companies themselves: 29,600 man-years in Second are banking, insurance and pension funds, with 14,300 ICT professionals, followed by wholesale trade (11,800). In manufacturing industry as a whole, 11,400 ICT professionals were active in The largest group (broadly defined) in ICT occupations nowadays are those in development, including information analysts and systems developers, and partly including system analysts/ programmers. CBS counted 30,900 man-years (35%) in this group in private enterprises over 5 employees in The second largest group is employed in manufacturing activities (12,800 man-years in 1998, or 15%), followed by those in users support (10,900, or 12.5%), various support and advisory functions (5,800, 7%), and in management (4,300, 5%). 6 Since 1996, labour is in short supply in the ICT sector. This situation is not likely to change in the near future. According to AWT, the Dutch Advisory Council on Science and Technology, the demand for skilled workers in the ICT sector will be twice the amount of persons receiving ICT education right now 7. The results of various studies are clear: the gap between demand and supply on the ICT labour market will be there to stay, and maybe even enlarge. Fenit, the employers association in the ICT sector, predicts that the shortage of employees will amount to 18,000 in the period A study by the Dutch employment exchange expects the yearly growth of ICT jobs to be 8.8 percent in the period to Especially outsourced ICT activities will face a considerable rise in demand for skilled workers, like programmers, consultants and developers. Here, 9.3 percent of the vacancies were very hard to fulfil in ROA, the Maastricht research centre, estimated the need for new employees in the ICT sector to total 50,000 from 1997 to Partly because of the considerable labour turnover in the ICT sector, 20,000 people need to be replaced during these years. On top of this, an additional 30,000 ICT employees will be needed, according to ROA. 10 In summarising, we can state that ICT staff will continue to be in short supply substantially. Recently, the temporarily extra demand for ICT professionals to solve the millennium problem and to smoothen the transition to the Euro turns out to be quite modest. Thus, the high demand for ICT employees may be called structural, most likely also after CBS, Automatiseringsstatistieken Particuliere sector CBS, Automatiseringsstatistieken Particuliere sector See also Smits, W., Delmee, J., De Grip, A., De arbeidsmarkt voor informatici, Researchcentrum voor Onderwijs en Arbeidsmarkt (ROA), Maastricht, January 1998, p.9. Adviesraad voor Wetenschap en Technologie (AWT), cited in: Concurreren met vrouwen, Aanbevelingen voor de verhoging van de instroom in de ICT-branche, Opportunity in bedrijf, Amsterdam, October 1998, p.10. Couzy, Michiel, Technisch imago hindert de branche, in Computable, January 8, 1999, no.1, p.33 Arbeidsmarktverkenning sector informatie- en communicatietechnologie, Arbeidsvoorziening, Zoetermeer, August 1998, p.iv. Smits, Delmee & De Grip, ibid., p.9. Opportunity in bedrijf, ibid., p.10. 4

11 The composition of the work force in the ICT sector is extremely male dominated: in 1998, only 11 percent of all employees in ICT occupations were female 12. So, the statement that women are absent in the ICT sector is hardly exaggerated. Gender segregation in ICT occupations has been strong since the sixties, when these occupations went through a process of professionalisation. In the seventies, when the (association of) ICT staff defined their professional domain and certificates for vocational training courses were set up, the female key entry typists were excluded from this domain. In the eighties, the number of key entry jobs declined but remained 100 percent female. Women s share in the declining computer operator jobs decreased. The high status, quickly expanding programmers and systems analysts occupations became slightly less male dominated. In 1987, 5.6 percent of the systems analysts and 10.3 percent of the programmers were female. Six years later, in 1993, the percentages of women had grown to 8.9 among systems analysts and to 13.0 among programmers. 13. We shall analyse this development in detail in Appendix 1. It is a pity that comparable figures are missing for the years after Yet, various indications, some already manifest in suggest that since then, even the slow growth of women s share in ICT occupations has stagnated. These indications suggest that the growth of the female share in (junior) users support and commercial ICT functions, which unmistakably took place during the last five years, may have been largely or even totally undone by the continuous male dominance in (senior) development, engineering and managerial ICT occupations. 2.2 Recruiting women in the ICT sector Like elsewhere, in the ICT sector the success of recruiting employees depends on the company s image and reputation. Which factors play a role for employees in the decision to start to work in the ICT sector, and which factors are significant in committing employees to an ICT company? When the ICT sector is compared to other sectors dominated by men, the ICT employees are relatively young and highly educated. Indeed, more than half of all employees in this sector are younger than 36 years of age. 16 The ICT sector reached maturity in an era when perceptions about the roles of men and women in society were less traditional than in earlier days. At first sight, these conditions are quite favourable for the acceptance of a massive influx of women employees. On the other hand, the sector has developed so rapidly and under such massive competitive pressure, that work organisation and personnel policies, including human resources management, have been neglected. This does not imply that work organisation in the Dutch ICT sector has developed in one direction. One can divide between older companies, mainly coming from manufacturing industry, that have developed in a traditional bureaucratic and hierarchical way, and younger companies, Opportunity in bedrijf, ibid., p.10 Based on CBS, Enquête BeroepsBevolking (EBB), Due to the fact that occupation has been replaced by educational level as a central category in the CBS surveys. Cf. Bouwman, Van de Camp & Tom, ibid., p. 77. Plekker, ibid., p.70. 5

12 software oriented, especially to be found in the administrative segments of the ICT markets, where more flexible organisational structures have come into being, where jobs are quickly upgraded and broadened, and where social, organisational and communicative skills gain importance. 17 Although it can be argued that the second company type will pose brighter prospects for women in the longer run, both types recently have shown great difficulties in creating adequate personnel policies and even in having Personnel & Organisation facilities. In the 1994 STZ survey, for example, over one third of the respondents employed by software houses in the administrative sector answered that their company had no personnel officer at all. This percentage varied between 10 and 18 percent in the various categories of hardware and manufacturing oriented companies. 18 A majority of the respondents (trade union members) valued the prevailing personnel policies as moderate to bad. 19 Against this background, it is not surprising that surveys concerning the quality of work in the ICT sector do not show outcomes in accordance with the sunny image of the sector. In the 1990 TNO survey, the ICT employees judged their labour situation in general more positive than those from a reference group. However, two aspects were valued more negative: the hectic character of the job, especially the related time pressure, and the quality of the local management. 20 Other research from the same period showed the magnitude of structural overtime, being on average three hours a week for the women concerned, contributing to average working weeks in the period of 45 hours. 21 The 1994 survey by STZ enabled to rank 15 bottlenecks, based on the answers of 1,065 trade union members in the ICT sector from the lower occupational categories. No. 1 in this ranking, mentioned by 37 percent of the respondents and most widely spread among all types of ICT companies, was lack of career perspectives, followed by too large workload (36%) and unclear function (35%). Working time issues were rather prominent in this listing: too long travel times ranked 6th, mentioned by 17 percent, irregular working hours ranked 12th (12%), overtime was bottleneck no. 13 (9%), and impossibility to work part-time no. 15 (4%). 22 A recent study shows that ICT companies still typically offer little room for part-time work. The ICT management involved argued that, as it concerns projects where employees are seconded to clients, these clients do not accept part-timers. Project contracts lay down strict time limits, and this often means that work has to be done in too little time. Thus, overtime is normal practice, including work during evenings and weekends. The chances to work part-time for the remaining non-seconded employees were said to be the same as in other sectors Bouwman, Van de Camp & Tom, ibid., p. 84. Bouwman, Van de Camp & Tom, ibid., p. 86. Bouwman, Van de Camp & Tom, ibid., p. 87. Andries, F., Automatiseren is mensenwerk. Arbeid en gezondheid van automatiseringsdeskundigen, TNO/NIPG, Leiden, 1990, p. 11. Olde, Cora de, Vrouwen in de Informatica, VUGA, The Hague, 1990; Slageren, Steven van, Een gewone branche? Onderzoek naar sociaal-economische ontwikkelingen in de automatiseringsbranche, SOBE/FNV Dienstenbond, Woerden 1990; R + M Research en Marketing, Automatiserings Decision Makers, Personeelsmarkt 92, Stam, Rijswijk 1992, cited by Bouwman, Van de Camp & Tom, ibid., p. 89. Bouwman, Van de Camp & Tom, ibid., p. 90. ibid., p.6. 6

13 As problems concerning working time issues were already called bottlenecks by a considerable part of mainly male respondents, these problems certainly will be so for the career chances of women, especially if they have children. De Olde concluded that women in the ICT sector have the same chances as men as long as they are willing and able to work full-time. Indeed, as long as they are willing to work under the same conditions as men, they may have the same opportunities. 24 Yet, in real life it is much harder for most women to work about 45 hours a week than it is for men, especially for those with children, as most of them still cannot rely on their partner for a substantial part of the housekeeping and the daily care of the children. Research has confirmed that female ICT employees felt the absence of arrangements that make it possible to reconcile work and household tasks, like childcare facilities and possibilities to work part-time, as an obstacle for their career development. Together with the consequences of existing management stereotypes about the lack of technical skills in women, this absence may indeed largely explain the fact that women remain over represented in junior positions and at entry levels of the career ladder in the ICT sector. Research in the early 1990s showed that female ICT professionals tended to deny the occurrence of male-dominated attitudes in the ICT field. Yet, among them women with children were underrepresented 25. On the other hand, a recent study showed that working part-time could have negative effects on careering. 26 A negative correlation was found between the number of working hours and the speed of making career, partly caused by company culture, partly by the conviction that some positions, mostly executive ones, cannot be held by part-timers. 27 The researchers stated that the companies studied (DEC and Origin for the ICT sector) hardly recruited part-timers. Employees working part-time mostly started their careers as fulltimers. Yet, management of all companies started to realise that if labour is in short supply, recruiting part-timers may be a way to reach new segments of labour supply. The researchers expected that when some companies start using part-time working hours as a recruiting instrument, more companies might follow suit. The respondents from the ICT sector thought this to happen soon, as the need for employees is quite pressing here. The researchers concluded that the effects of part-time working hours on labour provision would be twofold, both positive and negative. More part-time work may mean lower absence because of less illness, higher productivity, a more flexible work force and a rise in creativity. Disadvantages are supposed to be that part-timers are less available and controllable, that the complexity of the organisation may grow and that costs (wages, bonuses, et cetera) may rise. 28 Nevertheless, the second type of ICT company we distinguished before may tend to accept a more complex form of organisation, as they tend to concentrate on ICT projects where the integration of technical skills with social, organisational and communicative skills is more and more decisive for commercial success. Especially for these companies, the general De Olde, ibid., p.5. Olde, C. de & A. van Doorne-Huiskes, Positions of Women in Information Technology in the Netherlands, in I. Eriksson, B. Kitchenham & K. Tijdens (eds.), Women, Work and Computerization, North Holland, Amsterdam, 1991, pp Vakcentrale MHP, Deeltijdwerk: nog steeds een taboe in middelbare en hogere functies. Onderzoek naar deeltijdwerk, carrière en bedrijfscultuur, Houten, February ibid., p.2. ibid., p.5. 7

14 argument, often used by American management consultants and researchers 29, seems relevant that a socially balanced staff, including a balanced gender composition, may stimulate mutual co-operation, communication, creativity and problem-solving, as well as it may improve the entry to rapidly changing markets. For the time being, however, these demands are in sharp contradiction with the image of the ICT sector amongst women. Recent research shows that they have the following associations with ICT: 30 ICT is technical, computer science is a mathematics profession A world of fast guys, nerds and freaks, where status is very important Long working days, high workload No possibilities for part-time jobs, difficult to reconcile work and private life Necessity to constantly prove yourself When seconded, one has to invest in new surroundings over and over again Up till now, women see their perceptions of the ICT sector confirmed in many recruitment campaigns: 31 The emphasis often lies on the technical aspects of the job, not so much on social and communicative aspects Strict and formal training requirements Demand for affinity with ICT Practically no information is given about the job that is being recruited for Way of applying is unappealing for women Few possibilities for learning on the job In order to accomplish the goal of a balanced gender composition and to ensure a larger influx of women in the ICT sector, major changes in personnel policies, labour conditions and facilities, as well as in recruitment practices will have to take place. In this respect, individual development, career perspectives, training and support are more important than high salaries 32. Labour conditions should improve too, and childcare facilities and possibilities to work part-time are quite important issues here. In the end, recruitment campaigns should focus more on these issues instead on high salaries and big lease cars, trying to change the image of the sector amongst women as well. Then, these campaigns can contribute to solve the structural shortage of employees in the ICT sector by attracting more women. A necessary next step will be to keep these women in the organisation, Cf. Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, The Change Masters, Allen and Unwin, London, 1984; Pfeffer, Jeffrey, Competitive Advantage through People, Harvard Business School Press, Boston Mass., Opportunity in bedrijf, ibid., p.13. Opportunity in bedrijf, ibid., p.14. Opportunity in bedrijf, ibid., p.13. 8

15 offering them career opportunities, and bringing down their turnover by genuine efforts to change the company culture, laying more emphasis on communication, mutual co-operation and support, creativity, and consultancy. 9

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17 Chapter 3 Terms of employment In order to analyse managerial attitudes towards the employment of women in the ICT sector; we compared the terms of employment in twelve companies. 33 The table in Appendix 2 shows some of the terms of employment as described in the CLA or in the terms of employment summary 34 of the twelve selected companies. This table will be clarified in the following chapter. The CLA s and the terms of employment summaries are checked on the following terms of employment: training, working time, sabbatical leave, part-time working hours, CLA a la carte, overtime, parental leave, childcare arrangements, affirmative action, and sexual harassment. We assumed that these terms of employment are important for women. The selected companies are: Bull, Compaq, Debis IT Services, EDS, Getronics, Origin, Lucent, Philips, Raet, RCC/Roccade, Sykes, and Syntegra. Their terms of employment will be explained in this chapter. 35 It has to be noticed that here the formal framework, that is the CLA clauses, will be presented. How companies actually deal with these clauses, has not been an object of study. 3.1 Introducing industrial relations in the ICT sector Three of the selected companies do not have a CLA: Compaq, Sykes and Syntegra. The terms of employment for these companies are described in terms of employment summaries or employee handbooks. CLA s and terms of employment summaries have diverging contract partners. Employers and trade unions enter into CLA s; both parties have to agree on their contents. FNV Bondgenoten is an important negotiator in the ICT sector. On the other hand, the employer, sometimes in consultation with the works council, formulates the terms of employment summaries one-sided. The Netherlands is known for its dual system of worker representation, with trade unions on the one hand, and works councils on the other. Dutch works councils have a number of statutory rights that can be used in efforts to influence managerial decisions regarding a number of terms of employment. Trade unions, of course, are using collective bargaining to influence major terms of employment. Today, most large and medium-sized firms have a well-developed structure of works councils, both at local and central level. In many firms, unions have succeeded in getting members elected to works councils. Nowadays, the total number of councillors in the Dutch private sector exceeds 50, The information for this chapter is collected from the concerning companies CLA s or terms of employment-summaries. In Dutch arbeidsvoorwaarden overzicht. CLA s normally do not apply to all employees; thus in the higher income brackets often have separate terms of employment. Yet, of the selected companies CLA s only one, the CLA of Getronics, did not apply to all employees. This CLA only applied to employees with a yearly income under Du.Fl. 95,000. Tijdens, Kea & Klaveren, Maarten van, Statutory Regulation and Workers Competence: The Influence of Dutch works councils on the Introduction of new Technology, in Economic and Industrial Democracy, Vol. 18, no.3, August 1997, p

18 In the Dutch Act on works councils (WOR) it is laid down that every company with 50 or more employees is obliged to have a works council. For firms with less than fifty but more than ten employees, works councils are not obligatory. Only when a majority of the employees asks for a works council, a firm of this size is obliged to comply with the request. The number of Works council members depends on the work force and varies between three and 25. Candidature and voting are open to nearly all workers. Quite common, members are chosen in triennial elections at company level. The WOR entitles the works councils to statutory rights that can be used to influence managerial decisions. In cases of important reductions, expansions, investments or other changes in company activities, councils can exert their advisory rights and management is obliged to seek the council s advice in time (WOR Art. 25). Works councils have stronger, that is approval, rights when the employer wants to regulate or change a number of terms of employment, like working time and holiday regulations, regulations on education of employees, regulations on treatment of complaints, as well as regulations on appointing, resignation and promotion (WOR Art. 27). 37 Mostly, the framework of these regulations has been laid down in CLA s. Works councils, especially those with a majority of trade unionists, also play a growingly important role in preparing CLA s, and in monitoring and sometimes specifying their provisions 38. In the ICT sector, the number of companies with more than fifty employees is rather small. Most companies in the ICT sector have less than ten employees. In 1996 the total number of companies in the core of the ICT sector was 10,300, three times as much as in Especially the number of small companies with 0-9 employees has grown considerably. Only 0.5 percent of all ICT companies employ more than 100 people, and only 5 percent of the companies have 10 or more employees. 39 Thus, most ICT companies are not obliged to have work councils. In these companies, a stimulus is missing to come to regulated and adequate personnel policies, which might manifest itself in the terms of employment too. Because of two reasons we might assume that the table in Appendix 2 paints a rosy picture of the terms of employment in the ICT sector: Most companies do not have CLA s, so the unions cannot contribute directly to the formation of the terms of employment. Most companies in the ICT sector do not have works councils, so employees do not have a direct voice in the formation of the terms of employment. 3.2 Firm-related training We are of the opinion that training is important for women in the ICT sector, because relatively few women have enjoyed regular computer science education. If female employees have opportunities to follow training courses, they might have chances to reach Bijlsma, Aliefka, Positie van de Ondernemingsraad bij Arbeidsvoorwaarden, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Hugo Sinzheimer Instituut, internal memorandum, May Tiidens & Van Klaveren, ibid, p. 465 Arbeidsvoorziening, ibid., p

19 the same level as men with a computer science background. Thus, we think it is important CLA s and terms of employment summaries contain clauses on firm-related training. Eight of the firms under study indeed have clauses about training in their CLA: Compaq, Getronics, Lucent, Origin, Philips, Raet, RCC/Roccade, and Syntegra. Compaq promises to pay for training that is necessary to perform daily activities. Training in order to develop employees is paid for in consultation with the manager. In practice this means that Compaq pays for training that gives employees added value for the company. Getronics has a fund for training and development. The unions have a consultative voice to this fund. Lucent acknowledges employees right on education to develop themselves. Normally Lucent as the employer pays the costs of training. The employees of Origin are obliged to make an individual development plan. All training within the framework of this development plan will be financed by Origin. Philips has laid down its aim to create an environment in which employees can follow necessary training and courses. Training is a responsibility of the employer and the employee. This mutual responsibility implies that both the employer and employee contribute in effort, time and costs of education. As long as training and education is related to the job, Raet pays for it. Every employee of RCC/Roccade has an individual development plan. RCC/Roccade is responsible for the formulation and the performance of this development plan. At Sykes, employees who are going to follow a course/training in their own time may apply for a study allowance if the course is directly related to their job, of relevance to the company and within company budget. 25 percent of the costs will be reimbursed immediately, another 50 percent will be reimbursed if the employee succeeds or moves up. If the employer asks the employee to start a course or training, the company will pay 100 percent of all related costs, including travel costs. Syntegra states to attach great value to training of its employees. Employees can ask for specific courses. Syntegra pays for education if this contributes to the value of employees for the company. It can be concluded that most companies contribute to firm-related training, mostly as long as it gives employees an added value to the company. Whether training is attended in the companies time is less obvious, because most firm-related training clauses are not clear about this aspect. A lot of training and education in the ICT sector is still most probably realised during employees leisure time. 3.3 Working hours All selected companies have a forty-hour working week laid down in the CLA. Holidays vary from 20 to 32 days. If the table contains two numbers per company (in the column holiday ), this means that the older employees are, the more days they get. Only for Roccade the two numbers imply something else: the various subsidiary companies have holidays that vary in length. This also holds for the number of ATV days. 40 Some subsidiaries have none, while others have twelve (with nothing in between). The extra days 40 ATV (in Dutch arbeidstijdverkorting ) days are saved up by employees under CLA regulations concerning a shorter the working week. 13

20 are the so-called company days. Normally employees can enjoy part of these company days-off freely, the employer appoints the other part. Bull has two different CLA s for its employees. One is the CLA for exempts, employees in grade 10 or more, and the other is the CLA for non-exempts, employees in grade 9 or lower. The exempts are entitled to days of holiday, while the non-exempts have The amount of Philips company days off is not the same for all employees. Employees in wage scales B, 50 and 60 are entitled to seven up till ten days (depending on age), while employees in wage scales 70 to 100 enjoy nine to twelve days. Employees in higher income grades get more company days. The employees of Raet are entitled to 11 ATV days. Six out of these eleven days should in principle be used for educational purposes, while the employer can appoint two to three days. While the number of holidays of the companies at stake varies between 20 and 32 days, ATV days and company days also vary notably, between 0 and 16 days. 3.4 Sabbatical leave Six out of the twelve firms under study have a CLA containing a clause about sabbatical leave. This leave is separated from holiday s arrangements. Debis gives the opportunity to take the days off, saved over the last four years 41, unbroken. This period can be prolonged with the same number of days unpaid leave. According to the CLA of EDS, the employee can take four weeks unpaid leave in consultation with management. Origin has a sabbatical leave arrangement that enables employees to take an unbroken leave of three months. This arrangement also holds the option to save holidays. The employer s share of the pension fee will be paid during this leave. Philips employees can save their company days, except for the days appointed by management. These saved days can be used for study-leave, careleave, for early retirement or for other kinds of leave. The CLA of Raet does not really have a clause concerning sabbatical leave, but it offers the possibility to employees of 45 year and older to save five days a year. These days can only be taken directly preceding (early) retirement. The employees can also save ATV days and take time-off once every three years, with a maximum of eighteen days in the third year. For RCC/Roccade, the sabbatical leave arrangements are in the hands of the daughter companies. This leave is one of the purposes of the individual terms of employment (see the paragraph on CLA a la carte). Sykes does not have a clause on sabbatical leave in their employee handbook, but it states something on unpaid leave: it will only be granted as an exception to the rule. Unpaid leave can only be taken after written permission from the human resources manager. Considering these results, we can conclude that half of the selected companies have some kind of sabbatical leave arrangement. Yet, large differences appear concerning the significance of the different arrangements. No standard industry arrangement is in existence. 41 This only holds for the extra days off and for the ATV days, not for the regular holidays. 14

21 3.5 Part-time working hours Eight out of the twelve companies under study have a CLA or a terms of employment summary with a clause on part-time working hours. In Bull s CLA, it is stated that in principle part-time working hours are possible for all job levels. In principle the employer will approve requests for part-time working hours. Only when the companies interests are at risk, the request will be refused. A refusal of a request for part-time working hours will be given on paper within one month. Compaq also has a passage on part-time working hours in their terms of employment summary. It states that employees have to request their manager for part-time working hours. The request will be approved if the companies interest allows so. If not, the manager will give a motivation about the request s refusal in writing. The CLA of Debis states that a request of an employee to work part-time will be considered by the employer. EDS has a policy to enlarge the possibilities for part-time working hours at all levels in the company. When an employee of Origin wants to work part-time, the request has to be discussed with the manager. If an employee does not agree with the rejection of his/her demand to work part-time, he/she can appeal to an arbitration board. In principle, a request of Lucent employees to reduce working hours will be positively approached. The company will give account in writing if the request is refused. Philips employees have to file their part-time requests at the manager. Decisions will be taken within three months. Denial of the request will be motivated in writing. In principle Raet positively approaches requests for part-time working hours. Employees have to file the request in writing, and within 14 days the employer will give the decision on the request in writing. Sykes employee handbook doesn t mention procedures of requesting part-time working hours. Yet, it mentions that the conditions for part-timers will be deduced from the conditions of employment of full-time employees. It can be concluded that most of the selected companies have a clause on part-time working hours. Most of these clauses are quite similar. In principle, companies will look at part-time requests with open minds. However, it is unclear how these clauses affect reality. Do clauses on part-time in CLA s and terms of employment summaries cause more employees to have part-time working hours? CLA a la carte As the table in Appendix 2 shows, a lot of companies are offering a CLA a la carte. This implies an individualisation of the terms of employment: part of the terms of employment is collective and part is individual. Concerning some terms of employment, employees are entitled to individual choices. These individualised terms of employment vary between companies. However, a good example of such a CLA a la carte is that of Roccade: 42 We will refer to this question again in chapter 5. 15

22 The agreements between employers and employees concerning the individualisation of the terms of employment are valid during a certain period of time, with a maximum of 12 months. The individual agreement will be adjusted if changes occur in the collective agreement. When employer and employee decide to individualise the terms of employment, the agreement has to meet certain conditions: There should be no extra costs involved for the employer The reward can be, within certain limits, in time-off or in money terms The employee can decide, within certain limits, about the spending of the money payment and the time-off The equivalence principle should be applied The parallelism 43 principle should be applied The system of the individualised terms of employment should be based on a so called current account system With the individualisation of the terms of employment, a current account relation between employer and employee comes into being. With the help of the current account, the various terms of employment are valued. The current account is used as a savings account. The following is an example of a current account: Sources ATV days Overtime Share of results Salary Holidays Holiday pay Purposes Extra holiday Childcare arrangements Parental leave Superannuation contribution Sabbatical leave Payment It can be concluded that more than half of the selected companies have some choices in their CLA or terms of employment summary. Not all companies choice options are as broad as those at Roccade. 43 In this context parallelism means that there should be an equivalent relation between sources and objectives. For example: the possibility to buy a maximum of five days off relates to the possibility to sell five days off. 16

23 3.7 Overtime work In connection with overtime, we tried to give answers on two questions. First: does the employer have the intention to prevent structural overtime? Second: is overwork paid for, in salary and/or in time-off? Some CLA s, like Getronics, mention overtime but not the topics included in the table. Getronics CLA states that the employee (younger than 60 years of age) is obliged, if necessary, to work overtime. Getronics hereby complies with the legal prescriptions. The CLA s of the other selected companies contain passages on prevention and/or payment of overtime. Bulls employees are obliged to work overtime if necessary. Only employees older than 57.5 of age are excluded from this obligation. Bull s two CLA s have different regulations regarding the payment of overtime work. Exempts do not receive compensation for overtime unless the hours are billable; non-exempts, on the contrary, do get paid for overtime, in time or in money. Compaq pays overtime of their employees in time or money. Only employees with gross incomes higher than Du.Fl. 77,160 per year do not always get paid for overtime; they are only compensated for overtime if the direct manager agrees. Debis will try to take precautions to prevent structural overtime. The payment of overtime occurs in payment or in time-off. This also holds for EDS. Lucent s employees are obliged to work overtime if they are younger than 50 years of age and if it is in compliance with the legal conscription. Lucent has no real intention to avoid structural overtime, but if this is considerable the company will consult the works council. In principle, overtime will be compensated with time-off, but if this is impossible the company pays an extra salary. Origin s CLA does not mention any intention to prevent structural overtime. The payment of overtime occurs monthly or quarterly. If paid quarterly, overtime payment can be used as a source for the CLA a la carte. Philips has no intention to prevent structural overtime. Only employees in grade B, 50 or 60 receive payment for overtime. Payment of overtime occurs in principle in time but if this is not possible in money. Raet s employees (younger than 60 years of age) are obliged to work overtime. The employer will try to avoid structural overtime. In principle, Raet pays for overtime in money or in time; only employees earning more than Du.Fl. 5,100 a month do not get paid for overtime. Employees (younger than 55 years of age) of RCC/Roccade are obliged to work overtime; the company hereby complies with the legal prescriptions. RCC/Roccade does not have a passage in their CLA about trying to avoid structural overtime. The company does pay for overtime, only the subsidiary companies decide on the level and manner of payment. Sykes employee handbook mentions that the employee will have to work overtime if the circumstances of the work require so. Only the account manager shall determine this. Overtime allowance will only be paid if the agreed weekly working hours (with minimum of 40 hours) are exceeded on request of the supervisor and/or manager. Only nonmanagement employees are entitled to payment of overtime as long as their yearly income does not exceed Du.Fl. 62, Compensation in time is also possible, at the discretion of the employer and with a maximum of five days a year. Syntegra s employees, if they are younger than 55, are obliged to work overtime. Overtime will be compensated for in money or time-off. 44 This was the wage border in