Words by Smiley Team
For peace, prosperity and sustainability, the world needs gender equality, according to the UN. But when it comes to gender equality in the workplace, no country has yet reached this target – and less than 50% of women have access to employment worldwide.
To turn this around, Bloomberg asks major companies to ‘fess up on how they’re doing. This year, it listed 418 companies for hitting the mark across five different areas: female leadership and training, equal pay, an inclusive culture, anti-harassment policies, and pro-women branding.
Here are nine companies from that list that you’re likely to come across on the high street or online.
Based on principles of minimal waste and optimism, Etsy excels in corporate social responsibility. In pursuit of gender equality, the company is going above and beyond, collaborating with a trans rights activist and prioritising inclusivity.
While customers get active in Lululemon’s sportswear, the company itself is active in driving gender equality among its staff. In 2018 the company achieved gender pay equity and it continues to consider equality when making decisions, the company says.
As the first Fortune 500 Company to announce equal pay for equal work, Gap is – forgive the obvious pun – closing the gap between the sexes.
With an 82% female workforce and 55% of senior positions held by women, Estee Lauder is another company working hard to achieve gender equality.
Around 55% of Ulta Beauty’s directors and the majority of its workforce are women, making gender equality an absolute priority for the company.
One of L’Oreal’s four pillars for its actions is “gender and LGBTQIA+” and for three years running the company has been named one of the best for gender balance amongst its staff.
With a huge range of inclusive policies based around the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, Burberry is working hard to achieve gender equality.
Maintaining global pay equity and a 50:50 gender balance across its workforce, Nike is also doing it bit to achieve equal rights for staff of every gender.
While it’s not quite there yet, Levi Strauss says it's working hard to achieve pay equity and to educate its staff, particularly at the hiring stage.
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