The question
If a firm recruits 50% women every year, how long will it take to reach a 50% female workforce?
Most executives instinctively answer:
“A few years.”
The real answer is often:
15–30 years.
How can that be true?
The simple demonstration
Imagine a professional firm with:
- 30,000 staff
- 30% female
- average career length ~30 years
Each year roughly 1/30 of staff leave.
That means:
- about 1,000 exits per year
Now suppose the firm recruits:
50% women every year.
The workforce moves only slowly toward 50%.
Why?
Because the existing workforce AS A WHOLE changes only gradually.
Even with perfectly balanced recruitment, the firm may take decades to reach the target.