XSYS addresses gender imbalance in flexo

Supplier of flexographic pre-press equipment, printing plates, sleeves, and adapters, XSYS, has championed its female employees in honour of International Women’s Day.

According to XSYS, a male-dominated industry is generally defined as one where women account for 25% or less of the workforce. Examples include the manufacturing and chemical industries where there are significantly fewer female employees than men.

For XSYS, bringing more women into the company is a major focus and it is actively working towards improving these statistics at all levels of the business.

“As part of our goal to reach higher levels of diversity and inclusion, we are keen on putting more women in leadership roles,” says Dagmar Schmidt, chief executive officer of XSYS. “One of our KPIs is to have 36% women in managerial positions by 2025, and I’m pleased to say that we are currently tracking at 33-34%, so we may well exceed that number.

“However, we can only promote women into these positions if enough are entering the industry in the first place, so recruitment of women at entry level is critical.”

Currently, women make up 17% of the entire workforce at XSYS and the company says finding new candidates is not an easy task. “We have to face the fact that we work in a very conservative specialty chemicals industry, which in addition to being male dominated is also, unfortunately, overaged.

“Recruiting new generations of women is very difficult but is also very important, both to get a better balance and better representation, but also to secure the future of the industry.”

One example of an initiative striving to encourage more women into the flexographic industry is Women of Flexo. The special interest group within the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) in the US is a space for women to connect.

Kiersten Borden joined the XSYS North America team in 2021 as Inside Sales Specialist and is a member of the group. Discussing her move to the flexographic industry with a Graphic Communications degree, Borden says: “At the time I knew nothing about the industry, but ultimately I decided to lean into printing over design because I felt the industry was so unique and specialised.

“The whole sales team has been very supportive right from the start. They are all male and have been in the industry for a while. I actually think they were excited to add a woman to the group; someone who is new to the industry and who adds diversity and a fresh perspective to the team.”

Borden adds: “I think it’s important to have different strengths and skills contributing to a team and to the organisation as a whole.”

On how to bridge the gap within male-dominated industries, one suggestion that crops up time and time again is the importance of flexible working. Many women will at some time in their careers leave to start a family and the ability to work flexibly enables them to continue to succeed in their roles.

Katja Stuhr, HR director at XSYS comments: “If companies are more adaptable, offering hybrid working or more flexible hours, then I think more women can be motivated to work in the industry.

“However, we are facing a challenging market for both candidates and employers and it is difficult to fill vacancies in general. There is a lot of work to be done in recruitment and employee retention.”

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