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In two years, the number of female-run companies in Hungary with billions in turnover has increased by more than 200, according to the Opten database. Interestingly, the proportion of women in management rises with age, while young entrepreneurs are mostly men, reports Világgazdaság.
The number of businesses worth billions with all-female management has risen to over a thousand, Opten revealed, no doubt to mark Women’s Day. While the overall number of operating companies in Hungary fell by 12,000 last year,
the success story of women continued despite the negative trends.
“Women have increased their share in the management of companies with higher turnover. Two years ago, there were only 700 women entrepreneurs, a year ago there were more than 800, and today their number has exceeded 1,000,” said Csaba Alföldi, business information expert at Opten.
Medium and smaller companies are more likely to be run purely by women, but
half of companies with a turnover of a billion forints also have some form of female management.
An interesting difference is that while the proportion of women is steadily increasing as the older age groups move upwards, men continue to dominate among young entrepreneurs. The reasons for this are partly outside the business. According to Opten’s report, among the younger generations, motherhood is more dominant, while the generally lower average age of men in the older age groups is already having an impact.
Currently, the youngest generation of entrepreneurs is Generation Z, with only 33% of female business owners, compared to 53% of the oldest generation (born before 1945).
There is a similar generational trend for persons authorized to represent a company, although in general the proportion of women in this role is slightly lower than among business owners.
Photo: Pexels
In the future, a greater focus on ESG (Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance), which has gained a reputation as the key to corporate sustainability, could also contribute to an increase in female participation.
The presence of women in management has many benefits, as they bring a greater range of perspectives, conflict management skills, and empathy to organizations they lead. Female-led firms are more likely to have more sustainable business practices, which in the long term benefits both business performance and social impact, reads the report.
Although the majority of domestic businesses still have a higher proportion of male owners and managers, women’s participation in management remains significant.
There are currently around 247,000 female owners, a number that fell by more than 13,000 last year, mainly as a result of the exit from mixed ownership. As with ownership, the number of women directors with the right to register a company also fell last year, by just over 4,000 compared to the previous year. On the side of enterprises with only female owners and managers, there was also a decrease by 1,800 by 2023. The number of these businesses is over 81,000, representing 17% of the firm database, and the proportion is unchanged from the previous year. However, this proportion is still very far from the number of all-male businesses.
Via Világgazdaság, Featured image: Pixabay