Women at OGE
Women for OGE –
OGE for women!
Diversity makes us strong – that's our firm belief. As a technically driven company in the energy sector that values tradition and is a member of the Diversity Charter, we stand for a diverse workforce. We place a particular focus on increasing the proportion of women within OGE, and in so doing we want to send a clear signal. Our goal is to grow the proportion of female leaders to 17% by 2026. And we want to inspire you to join us.
Networks and collaboration
Making connections: For us, this applies as much to pipelines as it does to human connections. Especially for underrepresented employee groups and their continued development, it is important to build networks, open doors and have role models. We have established in-house networks and external partnerships specifically for women:
women@OGE
In 2017, we founded women@OGE, a network that now unites more than half of all the women in the OGE Group. The network provides a platform for networking, sharing experiences and supporting the development of women at OGE.
Femtec
We are part of the Femtec network, whose members include leaders from business and science as well as young female talent. As a partner company of the Career Building Elements programme, we share the goal of networking with female STEM talent and establishing diversity in the world of work.
VDI WoMentorING
As a partner of VDI, the Association of German Engineers, we actively support WoMentorING, a nationwide mentoring programme by and for young female engineers. The programme aims to promote and raise the profile of women in the engineering profession and to build a sustainable network of experienced and young female engineers. OGE has joined the programme with several mentees and a mentor.
Flexible work
OGE offers a high degree of flexibility in terms of working models to promote the work-life balance of its employees. With a weekly working time of 38 hours, most employees can choose flexible working hours, the only exception being employees in Technical Operations and shift rotas. This includes the free choice of working hours within a time frame (flexitime) as well as the use of short-term and long-term working time accounts to flexibilise working hours. In addition, employees can adjust their weekly working hours either permanently or over a defined period of time (part-time) based on additional customised contractual arrangements. OGE currently offers around 30 different part-time models, ranging from 20% for returning to work after parental leave to part-time almost reaching full-time status.
Childcare and elder care
For our Essen locations, we offer places at the Farbenland daycare centre to provide childcare close to work. We also support you when it comes to caring for or looking after the older generation, for example. We cooperate with pme Familienservice, which supports our employees in various life situations, offering solutions for childcare, caring for relatives, crisis counselling and health prevention.
Further development
OGE attaches great importance to further training and offers numerous internal and external seminars via a digital learning platform. With our development dialogue, we have developed a format that enables managers and employees to respond to specific development requests. In addition, we offer young female engineers a targeted mentoring programme with experienced mentees from the business world through the VDI's WoMentoring partner programme.
Health
As part of our excellent company health management programme, we offer regular check-ups, including mammography screening for women. We also advise you on which check-ups are important for women at different stages of their lives.
Women to watch
Here, we introduce you to a few characters at OGE who are representative of so many other women. Come to OGE and inspire others with your story, too.
Selina – From pot washer to manager
After leaving school, Selina initially trained in hotel management and spent two years working in the catering industry. Yet she quickly realized that she was quite literally selling herself short, and that she'd much rather be cooking with gas somewhere else. So she began studying industrial engineering and found her way to E.ON Ruhrgas through an internship. She stayed in contact with the company as a working student and took on a permanent role in 2008 as a Key Account Manager.
When the first hydrogen projects launched, Selina initially helped to drive them forward as a project manager. She has now been a team leader in customer support for two years and is thriving in her role.
"I've realised what a difference you can make as a manager. With my team behind me, I can multiply the power I have."
The mother of two believes she was able to develop in this way thanks to a whole lot of trust and finding the right "sponsors". Now, Selina wants to give that back.
"I was also encouraged by other women, and I hope that I can be a role model for women myself."
Luisa - Firmly holding the reins
Luisa came to OGE through a friend of her father to start her combined work and study programme as an industrial clerk. Alongside her commercial training, she studied business administration and business psychology but maintained the connection with OGE – always at the interface between theory and practice. So it's hardly surprising that when she finished her studies, Luisa was able to slot seamlessly into the company: working in personnel development, she has been shaping the training of commercial apprentices and students on combined work and degree programmes at OGE since 2023.
"It is important to me that our junior staff have the best conditions to get off to a flying start."
And Luisa practises what she preaches in her own professional growth: she has now taken on responsibility for personnel development on the technical side, too.
And it's not only in her professional life that Luisa is firmly holding the reins, as she dedicates much of her free time to equestrian sport. With such a time-consuming hobby, she really values the flexible working hours at OGE.
"I never had to compromise and cut back on my hobby when I went into the profession."
Mahsa - Always up for a challenge
In 2012, Mahsa attended the VDI Recruiting Day as a mechanical engineering student. She wasn't familiar with OGE back then – but the trainee programme sounded good.
After two technical stints and one administrative one as part of the trainee program, Mahsa worked as a project engineer in mechanical engineering for five years until she fell pregnant. Time for a step back from her career? Far from it! After parental leave, which Mahsa shared equally with her husband, she returned and shortly afterwards found her next challenge as a project manager for hydrogen projects, which were new territory for OGE at the time. After having her second child, she moved into a team leader role and now heads up the department for technical process and project management.
At OGE, she really values working in areas that are exciting and varied. Mahsa is always up for a new challenge.
"It drives me to craft solutions and help shape the areas I'm working in."
We can't wait to see what challenge Mahsa tackles next.
Lisa - A communicative bundle of energy
Sometimes things move faster than expected: a one-click application brought Lisa to OGE almost unexpectedly in 2024. The application process moved very quickly, and the company really went all out, so she was ultimately convinced that OGE would be her next employer. Alongside her master's degree in literature, Lisa spent several years working as a journalist for a radio station, and then on the other side of the desk as a press officer for a regional public utility company, among others. At OGE, she now takes care of project communication and informs citizens about our construction projects.
"We want to establish a dialogue with people and meet them where they are. That takes mutual understanding and open communication."
Not for a second has Lisa ever regretted her "quick-fire" move to OGE, and she is inspired by the dedication of the colleagues she works with: "Everyone has such drive and is willing to go above and beyond. Here, the proverbial extra mile works both ways." Lisa likes to give 120% in her personal life, too, most notably in her dedication to her Crossfit community. Her appeal to all women:
"Trust in what you can do and be brave. Just go for it; it could turn out well."
Tanja - A loyal soul committed to her causes
Tanja began her training as an industrial clerk at what was then Ruhrgas AG back in 1989 and later went on to study for a degree in business administration. She found her first job in materials management, a field to which she has remained loyal to this day. In her role, she supplies 42 field sites with materials, from safety boots to pipes.
"It's a good feeling to experience the gratitude of my colleagues."
But outside of her day-to-day work, too, Tanja shows wholehearted dedication. As a training officer in Procurement, she looked after a deaf trainee and realized how important individual support is for people with disabilities, so she stood for election as a disabled employees' representative (SBV) at OGE. She has now been in this role since 2017. Her first official act? Installation of a wheelchair ramp at the Altenessen site. She has also been an active member of the works council for over 10 years.
And Tanja's personal commitments don't stop there either: in her free time, she runs seminars on autogenic training and is involved in craniosacral therapy. "It's a way to find balance so I can really unwind."
Sonja - Shaping the energy transition
Sonja actually came to what was then Ruhrgas AG to land a contract for her employer at the time – but instead she impressed her contacts there so much that she promptly switched sides. That was back in 2006, and since then the landscape ecology graduate has supported the company with her knowledge of nature conservation. In doing so, she still sees herself as a mediator between ecological and economic interests.
"Our construction work sometimes takes place in sensitive habitats. Here, we are guided by nature and focus on environmentally friendly solutions."
After Sonja gave birth to her first child, she was one of the first in the company to work from home – long before this became normal during the coronavirus pandemic.
"I've never heard a categorical 'no' at OGE when it comes to balancing family and career." After ten years working part-time, urgent projects prompted her to go back to full-time work again when the war in Ukraine broke out.
"It's really great that at OGE I can make an active contribution to the energy transition."
Silke - A breath of fresh air on the Supervisory Board
After studying business mathematics, Silke started her trainee programme at OGE in 2010. She was so enthusiastic about her initial stint in Investment Controlling that she ended the trainee programme early when a permanent position became available there, and she is now in charge of Group planning.
"There's never a dull moment in this business: the energy industry is changing constantly, which means I can also keep growing and developing."
"Especially in times of major changes such as the energy transition, strategic investment decisions are hugely important to OGE." That was Silke's motivation to run for the Supervisory Board of VGSM, OGE's parent company, in 2024. With her commercial background and many years of experience in regulatory and financing issues, she was ideally placed to do so, and now she's bringing a "breath of fresh air" to the Supervisory Board, advising on the company's development as OGE's first female employee representative.
"Yes, we are a very male-dominated industry, but it's much more varied than you might think."
Kirsten - Not a question of age
Kirsten is living proof that changing jobs is not a question of age. When she joined OGE in 2019 in her mid-50s, she already had an eventful (professional) life behind her as a qualified communications pro: press, events, multimedia, a year and a half spent travelling the world, and self-employment as a single mother. Kirsten was a communications consultant for 20 years, and in the last ten of those she also worked on behalf of OGE. When OGE made the decision to switch to hydrogen with a new corporate strategy, she was ready to make the change, and she's also been managing OGE's external online presence ever since.
Kirsten really values the fact that OGE is open to different personalities: "OGE is a playing field where many people can score goals. And even though we are now over 2,000 people, we're still a team."
Kirsten hasn't had to give up her love of travel either; after a workation in Fuerteventura last year, she's already planned the next one. And what's next for her career?
"I love change. OGE is changing the future of energy – that's why it's still exciting to be here."