SAP Wrestles With Concerns Over Women’s Treatment, Senior Exits

Christian Klein was in his second year as chief executive of SAP SE in January 2021 when he addressed a staff meeting to field questions about the imminent launch of a new push into cloud computing.

A staffer took Klein, 42, to task over female representation. “If gender equality and women in leadership is important to SAP, why are there no female speakers?” one employee asked through a moderator, concerning the event planned for the announcement later that month. Klein’s response took the audience aback.

He said the question was “fair,” and that SAP needs to improve its diversity. However, ...