'Robot Nobel Prize' Female Winner Emerges... Key to Success of World's No.1 Company [K Population Strategy]

(41) Universal Robots
Number 1 in Industrial Collaborative Robot Sales
Scholarships and Work Planning Provided to Female Students

Denmark Implements Paternity Leave Quota for the First Time
Employers Support Fair Distribution of Leave

Editor's NoteThe key to solving South Korea's population problem lies within companies. A workplace culture that evaluates employees based on their work regardless of gender and a family-friendly environment are crucial to addressing the K-population issue. Although low birth rates result from complex factors, it is important to ensure that workplace burdens do not become obstacles that make people hesitate to have children. Asia Economy plans to visit companies leading family-friendly policies to identify the factors that helped these systems settle stably, and to explore various solutions with companies that lack practical conditions. Through this, we aim to encourage change starting from companies and analyze the government's role in enabling this. We listen to voices emphasizing that company culture and atmosphere that reduce psychological burdens are more critical than financial support, and propose alternatives from diverse perspectives.

'Robot Nobel Prize' Female Winner Emerges... Key to Success of World's No.1 Company [K Population Strategy]

Employees of Universal Robots working at the headquarters in Odense, Denmark. Actual employees were used as models. (Photo by Universal Robots)

"Diversity is an essential component that drives innovation."

Lotte Sodemann Sørensen, Vice President of Human Resources (HR) at Universal Robots, said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 13th, "Our goal is to expand the talent pool by attracting individuals with diverse skills and perspectives."

Odense, Denmark, where Universal Robots is headquartered, was renowned as a shipbuilding city in the 1980s due to the Maersk shipyard, the world's number one shipping company at the time. However, it began to decline in the 1990s as Korean shipbuilders gained price competitiveness. Odense sought new growth opportunities and transformed into a cutting-edge robotics cluster starting in the 2000s. Universal Robots played the biggest role in this transformation. Founded in 2005 by three university students, Universal Robots develops and sells industrial collaborative robots and currently holds the number one global market share. According to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, the global collaborative robot market is expected to grow to 6.8842 trillion KRW by 2025.

Lotte Sodemann Sørensen, Vice President of Human Resources at Universal Robots (Photo by Universal Robots)

Vice President Sørensen emphasized, "Although most employees in the robotics industry are male, we question whether we should limit ourselves to only half the population when looking for new engineers and other staff." He added, "Our goal is to break down the barriers that traditionally separate male and female occupations." He further explained, "The misconception that the technology industry and STEM fields are exclusively male domains is deeply rooted historically. We aim to break stereotypes by showing that young women can also have promising futures in robotics."

Female Executives Win Nobel Prize of Robotics

Universal Robots is making various efforts to help women stand out in the robotics industry. Notably, they provide scholarships annually in partnership with another robotics company, MiR, for female students participating in vocational education programs. The scholarship amounts to 30,000 Danish kroner (approximately 5.76 million KRW) and is linked to an internship program, giving recipients opportunities to work at Universal Robots or MiR. Vice President Sørensen said, "We have the responsibility and duty to find ways to showcase role models through these female students and inspire others," adding, "We want to provide a platform for female role models who actively work to break the hypothesis about studying STEM and pursuing careers."

Roberta Nelson Shea, who works as the Global Technology Compliance Officer at Universal Robots, was selected as the recipient of the ‘Engelberger Robotics Award’ last year. This award is considered the Nobel Prize of robotics and is highly prestigious. It was the first time in five years since Universal Robots co-founder Esben Østergaard won it in 2018. In an interview after receiving the award, she said, "It is still a reality that women are a minority in the robotics industry," and added, "I hope the Engelberger Award inspires young women to see that women can play a key role in robotics and technological advancement."

Universal Robots also pays attention to employees' working environments. Vice President Sørensen said, "It is important to provide flexible working environments that allow both women and men to care for their families, including childcare." He added, "Empowering employees to decide when, how, and where to complete their work is exactly what we aim for to achieve real change."

Expanding Gender Diversity... Leading to Corporate Value Creation

The Danish Industry Association, similar in nature to the Korea Employers Federation, stated in its report ‘Survey on Gender Composition of Danish Corporate Boards’ published last year that "companies investing in gender diversity not only make better decisions but also see a noticeable increase in value creation."

The report concluded, "Diverse perspectives and experiences bring dynamism to decision-making, which promotes creativity and fosters innovation that can lead to more nuanced and thoughtful decisions," and "Gender-diverse boards are not merely symbolic acts for equality but investments in more innovative and competitive companies."

Denmark has made institutional improvements to ensure both men and women can balance work and life to secure diversity. In 2022, it implemented the ‘Men’s Paternity Leave (Parental Leave) Quota’ for the first time. The revised parental leave system consists of a total of 52 weeks (24 weeks each for parents + 4 weeks maternity leave before childbirth for women), of which 11 weeks cannot be transferred to the other parent and must be used within one year after the child’s birth. In other words, if the father does not take any parental leave, those 11 weeks are forfeited. As a result, the number of men taking parental leave increased to 40% from July 2022 to July 2023, while the number of women decreased by 12% relatively.

Kinga Szabo Christensen, Deputy Director of the Confederation of Danish Industry (left), and Peer Laier, Lawyer and Labor Law Director at the Confederation of Danish Industry (Photo by Confederation of Danish Industry website)

Kinga Szabo Christensen, Deputy Director of the Danish Industry Association, said, "I am confident that these changes will bring more equality in the labor market and women's working lives." She added, "Historically, we have often seen that women’s career development slows down when they take maternity leave. With the parental leave quota, more women will be able to advance into management positions."

Was there any opposition from employers regarding the revision of the system that effectively allocates parental leave to men? Peer Laier, lawyer and Labor Law Director at the Danish Industry Association, said, "Generally, employers strongly support a more equitable distribution of leave between men and women," and added, "The trend of men’s parental leave allocation in Denmark was introduced through collective agreements between employers and employees even before it was adopted into law." He emphasized, "We expect leave usage rates between men and women to be more equally distributed, which will help ensure equality in the labor market and career development."