Discover the shocking revelations behind the scenes at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, where founder Klaus Schwab’s leadership is under scrutiny. Former and current employees describe a toxic workplace culture marred by ageism, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual harassment. Despite its public stance on gender equality and diversity, the WEF faces accusations of sidelining women and Black employees, with multiple instances of misconduct swept under the rug. As allegations of inappropriate behavior and discriminatory practices surface, the WEF’s reputation for fostering global change clashes with its internal controversies, exposing a stark contrast between its public image and private realities.

The Wall Street Journal reports, that a few years ago, Klaus Schwab, the elderly founder of the World Economic Forum, decided the organization needed a fresher image.

He targeted employees over 50 and instructed his human resources chief to terminate them all, as reported by sources familiar with the matter. Schwab believed this would lower the average age of the workforce. However, HR chief Paolo Gallo, a former World Bank executive, refused, stating that a legitimate reason, such as poor performance, was needed to fire someone. Shortly after, Schwab dismissed Gallo.

This wasn’t the only instance of Schwab’s actions clashing with standard workplace policies upheld by the Forum’s major corporate partners. One notable incident, still discussed among staff, occurred in 2017 when Schwab appointed a young woman to lead a startup initiative. Upon learning she was pregnant, she informed Schwab during her first few days in Geneva.

Schwab, reportedly upset about her inability to maintain the same work pace, told her she was unsuitable for the leadership role. She was subsequently removed after what the Forum described as a brief trial period.

The World Economic Forum, known for its annual Davos meeting of global leaders and CEOs, claims its mission is to improve the state of the world.

However, under Schwab’s long tenure, the Forum has fostered a workplace environment that is reportedly hostile to women and Black employees, according to internal complaints, email records, and interviews with numerous current and former Forum staff and others familiar with its practices.

At least six female employees experienced career setbacks or were pushed out while pregnant or after returning from maternity leave. Additionally, another half dozen recounted incidents of sexual harassment by senior managers, some of whom still work at the Forum. Two women reported being sexually harassed years ago by VIPs at Forum events, including Davos, where female staff were expected to cater to delegates’ needs.

In two recent instances, employees filed internal complaints after white Forum managers used racial slurs in front of Black colleagues. Black employees also formally complained about being overlooked for promotions and excluded from Davos events.

The Forum refused to make Schwab available for an interview. Forum spokesman Yann Zopf stated that this article would “mischaracterize our organization, culture, and colleagues, including our founder.”

In written responses to the Journal, the Forum claimed it upholds high values, with confidential reporting channels and a thorough investigation process. It denied Schwab created an age limit for employees and asserted he worked with the HR chief to enable people to work beyond the typical retirement age.

The Forum contested the Journal’s depiction of events and stated it has zero tolerance for harassment or discrimination, addressing any complaints appropriately. It reported three allegations of racial discrimination since 2020, all thoroughly investigated with appropriate actions taken.

The Forum also noted that many incidents described by the Journal, including alleged pregnancy discrimination, involved former employees dismissed for performance reasons or due to restructuring. A spokesman mentioned that women do not face higher turnover rates after parental leave, and at least 150 employees returned to the same or better positions over eight years.

In a memo to staff on May 21, Schwab announced plans to step down as executive chairman, part of a long-planned transition. He will remain as non-executive chairman of the board of trustees. This announcement followed Schwab’s letter to the Journal’s publisher and editor-in-chief, expressing concerns about the article’s reporting.

The Forum’s workplace culture is particularly troubling for many employees, given the organization’s public advocacy for gender equality. It publishes an annual “Global Gender Gap Report” detailing countries’ progress toward gender parity. Ironically, some allegations of mistreatment came from former members of the team that compiled this report.

“That was the most disappointing thing, to see the distance between what the Forum aspires to and what happens behind the scenes,” remarked Cheryl Martin, a former top executive at the Forum and U.S. Energy Department official.

The Journal spoke to over 80 current and former employees, with tenures ranging from the 1980s to the present. Some have formed a WhatsApp group called “WEFugees,” where they bond over shared experiences, describing them as traumatic.

“It was distressing to witness colleagues visibly withdraw from themselves with the onslaught of harassment at the hands of high-level staff, going from social and cheerful to self-isolating, avoiding eye contact, sharing nightmares for years after,” stated Farid Ben Amor, a former U.S. media executive who worked at the Forum for over a year before resigning in 2019. “It’s particularly distressing when contrasted with the eagerness and earnestness with which many of us joined the Forum.”

The Boss

Klaus Schwab was a young German academic when he launched the first Davos conference in 1971. Since then, he has transformed the event into a global summit, attracting world leaders, billionaires, and celebrities. (Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, is a partner of the Forum and has a notable presence at the annual Davos event.)

Throughout his five-decade tenure as its leader, Schwab has grown the Forum from a small nonprofit into a massive organization generating over $400 million annually, with approximately 1,000 employees spread across Geneva, New York, and other cities. Many young professionals joined the Forum with aspirations to change the world, and some found intellectual camaraderie and supportive bosses during their tenure.

However, others have recounted a more troubling experience, claiming that women were frequently sexualized and objectified, with this behavior allegedly originating from the organization’s highest levels. From the Forum’s inception, female staffers were reportedly cautioned about Schwab, suggesting that if alone with him, he might make inappropriate comments about their appearance. While his behavior was described as more awkward than threatening, it was still deemed unsuitable for a leader. Schwab has been married to Hilde, his former assistant, since 1971.

Barbara Erskine, a former communications executive at the Forum, recalled Schwab instructing a board member to tell her to lose weight. He also reportedly told other executives she lacked charm. Erskine, who spent a decade at the Forum and left in 2000, felt these comments were demeaning. Three women who worked closely with Schwab in Geneva—a receptionist, a personal assistant, and a European staffer—told the Journal that Schwab’s suggestive remarks made them uncomfortable, and other colleagues corroborated their accounts.

The receptionist recounted that Schwab invited her to private dinners and outings, necessitating her to firmly clarify multiple times that their relationship would remain strictly professional.

Myriam Boussina, who worked as Schwab’s assistant and in partner company relations in the 1990s, said Schwab’s compliments on her attire, haircut, and body were inappropriate for the workplace, making her uneasy.

“I knew he liked me and found me attractive,” Boussina stated. “Men in power often believe they can have any woman and show no shame.”

Boussina highlighted the lack of a proper human resources department at that time, making it impossible to complain. “There was no one to turn to,” she explained.

The Forum denied these allegations, stating that Schwab has never made sexual advances toward employees, describing the claims as vague and false. “Mr. Schwab has never engaged in the vulgar behaviors described,” said a Forum spokesman.

A European staffer from the 2000s in Geneva stated that although Schwab never physically touched her, his persistent suggestive comments and behavior were distressing. She recalled an instance where Schwab propped his leg on her desk, his crotch near her face, and remarked he wished she was Hawaiian so he could see her in a Hawaiian costume.

Schwab also repeatedly said, “I need to find you a man, and if I were not married, I would put myself on the top of that list,” she recounted.

A former senior Forum executive confirmed that the European staffer shared some of Schwab’s flirtatious comments with him shortly after they occurred.

This executive, along with another staffer, witnessed Schwab’s inappropriate posture towards the European staffer and other women.

The Forum refuted these claims, calling them “disgusting and incorrect,” and added that Schwab was not familiar with Hawaiian costumes.

‘White on Blue Action’

The Forum operates internationally but also has strong familial ties. Schwab’s two children hold senior roles at the Forum, and his wife co-chairs the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, an affiliate of the Forum.

According to the Forum’s bylaws, either Schwab himself or a member of his immediate family must sit on the Board of Trustees. The bylaws specify that “The Founder himself designates his successor on the Board.”

The Board of Trustees includes around 30 members from various sectors, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, and leaders from institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, as listed on the Forum’s website.

Veteran members of the Forum recall Schwab’s preference for hiring attractive individuals, often staffing the prestigious Davos event with such personnel. Former executives noted that this environment sometimes led to instances of sexual harassment, with several employees raising concerns about inappropriate behavior by attendees.

The Forum maintains a strict policy against harassment at its events, committing to promptly investigate and take appropriate action for any reported incidents. It stated it was unfamiliar with the term “white on blue action” reportedly used to describe sexual encounters between VIPs and Forum staff.

Female employees reported experiencing frequent comments on their appearance, particularly from male colleagues. One woman who worked at the Forum in the 2010s said, “There was significant pressure to look good and wear form-fitting dresses.” She recalled incidents where young staffers were propositioned by attendees, such as a CEO at a WEF Africa summit inviting her to his room for a special Japanese whisky, which she declined.

Another woman, who joined the Forum in 2006, described receiving texts from partners complimenting her appearance and inviting her for drinks after daily events. She mentioned having to rebuff advances from a government minister who claimed to need help in his hotel room.

“Our male colleagues received different kinds of messages, like inquiries about socializing in the evening,” she noted. “We didn’t feel adequately supported.”

Cheryl Martin, a former official from the Energy Department, recalled advocating for internal reforms to address harassment during her tenure on the Forum’s managing board. She pushed for stronger codes of conduct at Davos and encouraged staff to report harassment incidents.

Martin indicated that her efforts were met with resistance from Schwab and other board members, who viewed her initiatives as excessive. In 2018, she said Schwab restructured her role, significantly reducing her responsibilities, staff, and budget without explanation. She resigned later that year, citing her inability to effect meaningful change.

“I changed what I could, and when I realized that I was really not able to do anymore, I resigned,” she said. “You lifted the rocks you could.”

Unwanted Touching’

The Forum retained and, in some cases, promoted about twelve managers against whom specific complaints had been filed over the years, according to complainants interviewed and documents reviewed by the Journal that were submitted to HR or other senior leaders. The Forum stated it investigated all complaints, terminated those who violated policies, and determined some complaints lacked merit.

In 2018, Justyna Swiatkowska complained with the legal and HR departments that George Karam, a manager, had invited her for drinks after work and engaged in unwanted touching and forcible kissing.

“In months that followed, this event and Mr Karam’s presence at the Forum left me traumatized and afraid to go to work,” she wrote in an email to the head of HR and the Forum’s president reviewed by the Journal. “I also learned that I was not alone and that there were other women with similar stories.” 

A colleague made a similar complaint about Karam that year. The two accusers uncovered others, including a woman who informed them she had previously complained about him years ago.

“The Forum had institutional knowledge about Mr Karam’s predatory,[sic] at least, since the time of the first complaint, but it did nothing for almost 3 years to stop the harassment and to take care of the victims,” Swiatkowska wrote in another email to the head of HR.

The Forum initiated an investigation and terminated Karam within a week. He quickly secured a position at a Forum partner. The Forum clarified he would have no contact with the Forum or its employees in his new role. Karam did not respond to requests for comment.

Other Forum managers who faced complaints remain in their positions. During a flu vaccination campaign in 2010, Malte Godbersen, the current head of technology and digital services, posed as a medical doctor when a young female staffer arrived, according to a complaint sent to Schwab and another Forum leader.

He asked her medical questions and agreed when she asked if she should remove her shirt, but first requested she change her body position, according to the complaint and individuals familiar with the incident. A real physician then entered, and the young woman realized she had been deceived. Jeremy Jurgens, a senior Schwab associate who happened upon the scene, reportedly laughed.

Godbersen later dismissed it as a joke, according to the complaint. Shortly afterward, he sent flowers to the woman’s home. She reported the incident to human resources.

HR summoned the woman to discuss the incident. Shortly thereafter, she noticed her work was consistently criticized by her supervisor, someone other than Godbersen, despite positive feedback from external stakeholders, according to the complaint.

Within months, the Forum terminated her. HR informed her the termination was unrelated to the incident and based on her job performance.

The Forum described the incident as a misunderstanding, stating that Godbersen issued an apology. He received a reprimand and a reduction in his bonus, according to documents. Godbersen, who remains employed by the Forum, did not respond to requests for comment.

New Mothers

Following pregnancy or childbirth, multiple women experienced setbacks at the Forum, as recounted by individuals familiar with their situations. Some faced severe criticism regarding their performance or lost their positions upon returning from maternity leave. Occasionally, they were offered temporary roles or positions they perceived as demotions.

These outcomes, they asserted, contradict the Forum’s public statements: The organization has released numerous articles and papers emphasizing the importance of supporting new mothers in the workplace.

Jurgens, a senior associate of Schwab, reportedly made derogatory remarks to a new mother shortly after her return from maternity leave, repeatedly expressing his disapproval of her, according to sources familiar with the incident.

When she reported in 2018 to HR that Jurgens was harassing her, she was advised to see a therapist. The Forum stated there was no actionable complaint of harassment. Jurgens did not respond to requests for comment.

Under a new direct supervisor in 2021, the woman experienced a miscarriage. In a journal entry sent to her husband from a hospital bed, she explained how she had been working to the point of exhaustion and had not disclosed her pregnancy: “It’s not the kind of place that you can confidentially declare [you’re] pregnant to your manager and expect that the workload might be eased whilst trying to juggle first-trimester exhaustion.”

The Forum indicated it provides flexibility upon request, provided it can be accommodated by broader teams.

Topaz Smith, an employee in the New York office who joined the Forum in 2022, gave birth to twins last year. She said she was informed a week before returning from maternity leave in February that her position had been eliminated, despite no reported performance issues. She was offered a six-month temporary role.

Within weeks, the Forum hired a replacement for a role with the same “partner lead” title she previously held, encompassing her former responsibilities, she claimed.

“It is a psychologically violent institution, and I don’t understand how they have the credibility to write this Gender Gap report and dictate how economies and industries are run globally,” she said. 

The Forum stated the role change was part of a broader restructuring and that a temporary position was created to assist Smith in finding another opportunity.

The N-Word

The Forum has at times struggled to uphold the principles it advocates for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. Black employees who have worked at the Forum reported instances of being overlooked for promotions, excluded from the prestigious annual Davos event, and encountering managers who made remarks ranging from insensitive to blatantly racist.

Six Black employees described instances where they were passed over for promotions or had promising opportunities abruptly withdrawn, with supervisors giving feedback that they weren’t sufficiently “visible” to senior leadership or needed to present a more cheerful demeanor. The Forum maintains that promotions are based on merit.

Earlier this year, Kimberly Bennett, a Black employee in Geneva who had been involved in leading the Black employee resource group, wrote a letter to HR highlighting concerns expressed by many Black colleagues. They felt sidelined, having been omitted from staff allocations to attend Davos despite their contributions to organizing key sessions there.

In one example, she noted that when the Forum’s DEI team dispatched workers to Davos, “all of the staff members are white and from Europe,” despite the fact that the team was diverse. “What does it say about our commitment to DEI if most of the representatives we choose to send to our most important event are white?” she queried in a letter.

The Forum responded that attendance at the annual Davos meeting is determined based on operational needs and that race and gender do not factor into the selection process.

In recent years, two managers reportedly used racial slurs in the presence of Black female employees they supervised.

One of them was Schwab’s long-time operations chief, Jean-Loup Denereaz. Several employees recalled off-color remarks he made over the years, including one occasion in which a lady complained to superiors in 2017 that he made inappropriate comments in response to a sexual harassment complaint filed against him. The Forum fired Denereaz in 2018 after he belittled a Black lady on his team in an open workplace. According to others familiar with the incident, he walked away and muttered, “What can you expect from an N-?”

The Forum condemned Denereaz’s actions as unacceptable and confirmed his swift termination for violating its code of conduct. Denereaz did not respond to requests for comment.

The other event occurred in September 2022, during a team lunch in Geneva, where coworkers were exchanging chocolate-covered marshmallows from Denmark. According to people familiar with the incident and documents reviewed by the Journal, Margi Van Gogh, a South African manager, and another white coworker discussed how the candies were previously known as “N- balls” in Denmark and had a similar-sounding name in South Africa, using the full word in front of a Black female colleague.

The Black woman was stunned and later mentioned the problem in an email to her manager, Van Gogh. She stated that she does not believe the word was used “out of malice,” but that it is upsetting for her and other Black people. “There is a common understanding that the only proper use of the word is to not use it at all.”

During a subsequent meeting, Van Gogh reportedly became emotional about her ancestral guilt, requesting the Black employee to lead a DEI training session for the team. However, HR indicated a lack of DEI resources and Van Gogh never followed up on the request.

The Forum characterized the incident as resolved with empathy and mutual understanding. Van Gogh, who heads the supply chain and transport industries at the Forum, did not respond to requests for comment.

Tiffany Hart, a Black employee who worked at the Forum for over a decade, claims one manager in Davos questioned her about her wig and, brandishing matches, asked if he could light it on fire. On another occasion, she claimed he informed her, “If I knew you had dyslexia, I wouldn’t have hired you.” She claimed she reported the employer to human resources to no avail.

The Forum stated it was unaware of these allegations.

When another supervisor, Roberto Bocca, a current senior executive, berated her and called her a “bitch” during a team call when she raised a question, she said human resources dismissed it as “Italian and very passionate.” The Forum stated that the Bocca matter was investigated and treated appropriately and that the aggressive language was not reported. Bocca did not reply to calls for comments.

Hart stated that she left on her own accord in 2022. “We don’t eat our own dog food,” Hart explained. “We promote inclusion and improving the state of the world and women’s issues but do the opposite.”

Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that, according to Semafor, Klaus Schwab announced in an email to staff on Tuesday that he would step down as Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.