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Cologne city administration: 62% women in service – a new era!
Cologne is growing: 62% of the city administration are women, 1,801 new hires in 2024. Developments in equality and employment.
Cologne city administration: 62% women in service – a new era!
Cologne is showing impressive progress in equality and diversity within its city administration. As of December 31, 2024, a total of 21,848 people are employed in Cologne, which represents an increase of around 350 people compared to the previous year. The proportion of women is particularly noteworthy: 62 percent of employees are women, which corresponds to 13,467 women and 8,381 men. This positive development is a clear indication that the city of Cologne is at the forefront when it comes to equal opportunities. According to that Cologne City Gazette Cologne has the second largest city administration in the IHK district, only slightly behind the REWE Group, which takes first place with 22,000 employees.
The city administration pursues clear goals to further promote equal opportunities and integration. An important milestone has already been reached: the proportion of women in management positions is 54 percent, and 204 women and 64 men work part-time. These measures are part of a comprehensive equality strategy, which the city administration was one of the first in Germany to seal by signing the Diversity Charter. This also includes targeted training for managers in the area of diversity and inclusion, such as Total e-Quality describes.
Equal opportunities and training
In 2024, the city of Cologne brought a breath of fresh air into the administration by hiring 1,801 new employees - with around 17,000 applications received. Particularly pleasing: 466 young people were able to start their training in various municipal companies, making the city administration an attractive training place. With a success rate of almost 96 percent in the final exams, it is clear that the training in Cologne is of high quality.
The city administration has placed a particular focus on the compatibility of work and family. Of the 21,848 employees, over 80 percent have access to mobile working, which significantly improves flexibility and compatibility. Cologne was also certified as a “family-friendly company” in May 2020. These are all steps in the right direction, but will always be evaluated and developed to meet the needs of employees, such as the city of Cologne reported.
New challenges await
Despite these positive developments, there are still challenges, particularly in the area of equal pay and the underrepresentation of women in certain professional fields, such as MINT subjects. The city administration has already taken appropriate measures in these areas to increase the proportion of women and generally improve equality. The current figures show that IT has succeeded in exceeding the target of 11 percent female representation by over 6 percentage points.
The city administration strives to create an open and inclusive work environment. A project team called “Alliance Occupational Life” was created to further improve the compatibility of work and family. Measures to combat discrimination and abuse of power within the administration are also continuously implemented. These are all important steps on the way to an equal and diverse city administration in Cologne, which is not only convincing in its structure, but also in its actions.