Since the start of 2018 all senior managerial positions at Germany’s multinational software corporation SAP have in principle been available for job sharing and flexible working opportunities. Since March 2019, SAP has gone one step further so that now all work positions at the company will be able to be shared between two workers operating in tandem, so what had formerly been an option at SAP has now become a right. Cawa Younosi, HR Head at SAP Deutschland and SAP SE in Germany is renowned for his revolutionary ideas and has kindly agreed to discuss with Planet Labor the thought process and reasons behind this groundbreaking measure, what has been put in place to help employees find their ideal job-share partners, the criteria required for the idea to work, and the initial results from the initiative.
An extension of the Co-Leadership model. Job Sharing, which means having more than one (generally a total of two) worker undertaking the tasks related to a job position, is now relatively commonplace in Germany. A Federal Families’ Ministry report from November 2018 notes that almost 32% of West Germany’s companies offer their employees job-sharing opportunities (e.g. Amazon, Beiersdorf, Bosch, Telekom, Coca-Cola, Evonik, and Thyssen-Krupp). SAP however is undoubtedly the pioneer of this concept. Since 2013, senior executives wishing to ‘job-share’ have been able to request to do so. This formerly termed ‘Top Sharing’ model was nonetheless an option and did require authorization.
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