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Bloomberg recently revealed that 380 companies headquartered across 44 countries and regions made the list for the 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI).
According to a press release, this included firms domiciled in Indonesia and Bermuda that are reporting gender-related data for the first time.
Peter T. Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg, noted: "The companies included in this year’s Gender-Equality Index are committed to providing an inclusive work environment, supporting work-life balance and flexible work arrangements to retain a talented workforce and create a competitive advantage in this changing business environment."
Flexible work environments
- 87% of companies included in the GEI provide flexible working hours.
- 85% offer flexible working locations, a benefit that has become more important amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
Closing the gap
- GEI members’ boards are comprised of 29% women.
- 61% have a Chief Diversity Officer or an executive with the primary responsibility of diversity & inclusion.
- The companies have an average of 39% of women in revenue-producing roles.
- 52% of them require a gender diverse slate of candidates for management positions.
Culture of inclusion
- Index member companies are hiring more women than they are losing.
- 69% of which have a strategy for recruiting women.
- 59% conduct a global gender-based compensation review.
- On average, 85% of employees returning after parental leave remain with their company.
- 65% of companies offer on-site lactation rooms and 46% provide childcare subsidies or other financial support.
To top it off, the data revealed that communities are also benefiting from inclusive corporate policies. For instance, 60% of index member companies sponsor financial education programs for women and 64% sponsor programs dedicated to educating women in STEM.
Companies in the 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index include:
- Accenture PLC
- Adobe Inc
- Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
- Allianz
- American Express Co
- Aviva PLC
- AXA SA
- Bank of America Corp
- Barclays
- Bayer AG
- BNP PARIBAS
- BNY Mellon
- Burberry Group PLC
- Bursa Malaysia Berhad
- Campbell Soup Co
- CBRE
- Citigroup Inc
- City Developments Limited
- Credit Suisse
- DANONE
- DBS Group Holdings Ltd
- Diageo PLC
- DiGi.Com Bhd
- Dow
- DuPont
- Estée Lauder Companies
- Ford Motor Company
- General Motors
- Genting Singapore Limited
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- ING
- Intel Corp
- JLL
- JPMorgan Chase & CO
- Kao
- Kering
- Linde PLC
- L’Oréal
- lululemon
- Malayan Banking Berhad
- Manulife
- Marriott International, Inc.
- Marsh & McLennan Companies
- Mastercard
- Merck
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.
- Mizuho Financial Group
- NatWest Group
- Nestlé S.A.
- Nielsen
- NIKE Inc
- Nokia
- Nomura Holdings Inc
- Novartis
- NVIDIA
- Pan Pacific International Holdings Corporation (PPIH)
- PayPal Holdings, Inc.
- Philip Morris Products S.A
- Procter & Gamble
- Prudential PLC
- PT Mitra Keluarga Karyasehat Tbk
- QBE Insurance Group Ltd
- Robert Half
- S&P Global Inc
- SAP SE
- Schneider Electric
- Schroder Investment Management
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation
- Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy
- Singapore Exchange Limited
- Singtel
- SOCIETE GENERALE
- SODEXO
- Standard Chartered PLC
- Standard Life Aberdeen
- Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
- Swiss Re AG
- The Coca-Cola Company
- UBS
- Unilever PLC
- UOB Group
- Vodafone Group
- Western Union
- Willis Towers Watson
- Wipro Ltd
- WPP
- Xero
- Yum! Brands, Inc.
- Zurich Insurance Group AG
- Zynga Inc.
The GEI brings transparency to gender-related practices and policies at publicly-listed companies, increasing the breadth of environmental, social, governance (ESG) data available to investors.
“As we continue to grapple with the pandemic, we’ve seen companies put increased emphasis on the ‘S’ in ESG,” said Grauer.
Despite raising the threshold for inclusion in the 2021 index, a record number of companies disclosed their data, and the quality of disclosure continues to improve.
This year, GEI companies had a 94% disclosure score on average. While the average disclosure score was high, the average data excellence score was 55%, making it evident there is still work that needs to be done. The data excellence score is broken down into scores across five pillars: female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand.
The index is not ranked. The firms included in this year’s index scored at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect a high level of disclosure and overall performance across the framework’s five pillars.
“As businesses strive to maintain strong corporate cultures in today’s virtual world, business leaders have the opportunity to drive progress on gender equality for years to come,” said Patricia Torres, Global Head of Sustainable Finance Solutions at Bloomberg. “This progress can begin with the GEI framework, which helps companies assess where they are on the path to gender parity relative to their peers, and hold themselves accountable to their goals. In turn, the GEI data gives investors a comprehensive view into how these practices are driving increased employee engagement and productivity, bringing higher market value to companies, and creating positive change in local communities.”
Photo / 123RF
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