Infineon Technologies

Infineon Technologies manufactures semiconductors and related systems. The company’s products include power semiconductors, as well as microcontrollers and radio frequency products and sensors. The products are key enablers of several important end markets including electric and hybrid road vehicles, renewable power generation including wind turbines, efficient power management in industrial systems and applications and in other types of electrical infrastructure.

Objectives

1. For Infineon to set more ambitious gender diversity targets (increasing from 20% to 30%).

2. Better understanding the company’s approach to broader aspects of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

Background

Infineon has over 33% gender diversity at the board and senior management levels, placing it in the top quartile of the portfolio. In addition to this, it has a time-bound target for 20% of management positions to be held by women by 2030. Still, we feel that more could be done to address DEI throughout the business.

Actions

Prompted by our voting policy that recommends engagement with businesses showing inadequate diversity we arranged a call with Infineon’s Investor Relations team in Q1 2024.

Specifically, we were keen for the company to build on its approach to gender diversity by increasing its target on management position to be increased to 30% (from 20%) and to learn more about the company’s flexible work policies.

In addition to this we were also keen to learn about Infineon’s approach to DEI beyond gender and asked specifically about goals relating to underrepresented groups such as ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities as well as data collection and analysis for these groups, hiring policies and inclusivity and supplier diversity.

Outcome

Milestone 2 - Company shares or agrees to disclose information on the issue / Milestone 3 - Company develops or commits to developing an appropriate policy or strategy to manage the issue

Currently, Infineon feels that a 30% target for gender diversity is challenging within the semiconductor industry. That being said, it is working to increase awareness of the career opportunities in the semiconductor industry via a number of initiatives for example with schools and universities. It also has the largest kindergarten in Germany and enables flexible working and has policies to address bias in promoting mothers.

Nevertheless, Infineon has implemented various initiatives aimed at promoting inclusivity and diversity, such as accommodating religious dietary restrictions, establishing employee resource groups, conducting surveys to gauge employee satisfaction and identify areas for improvement, and setting up an anonymous integrity line to address any concerns raised by employees. These efforts indicate a commitment to creating a supportive and inclusive work environment, even if specific targets for diversity metrics are not yet in place.