Thursday, 6 September 2018: Woolworths Group was today named Australia’s top company in Thomson Reuters’ 2018 Diversity & Inclusion Index and 14th across the globe.
The D&I Index ranks the top 100 publicly traded companies out of a pool of more than 7,000 globally and measures 24 metrics across four key categories: Diversity, Inclusion, People Development and News Controversies. The index is then calculated by weighing each metric based on importance in the market and how each company compares with its peers.
Woolworths Group Chief People Officer, Caryn Katsikogianis said, "We are proud to be ranked in the global top 20 of the Thomson Reuters Diversity and Inclusion Index.
“It is welcome recognition of our efforts and progress in creating an inclusive culture across all of our businesses.
“As a group, we embrace the value diversity brings to our organisation and seek to provide an inclusive work environment that gives all our team members a sense of purpose and belonging.
“We want our customers to experience a welcoming and genuine team when they shop with us, and our diverse team is key to delivering this.”
The Woolworths Group has been focused on a number of diversity and inclusion initiatives to create better experiences for its customers, team and communities. These include refugee programs, LGBTI inclusion, gender pay parity and Indigenous employment.
Earlier this year Woolworths was recognised as the first retail organisation to achieve Gold Tier Status in the Australian Workplace Equality Index Awards as part of its commitment to LGBTI inclusion.
The Woolworths Refugee Employment program, in partnership with Community Corporate, is also making great strides as it works to provide employment opportunities for displaced refugees from Syria and the Middle East to contribute to successful settlements.
Woolworths has completed three programs in 2018 with a 100 percent employment conversion rate, and all 45 refugees have commenced employment in our Metro and Supermarket stores with a goal to employ another 100 refugees over the next year.
Caryn Katsikogianis added, “This recognition is a testament to our 200,000 team members across Australia and New Zealand who make the Woolworths Group such a great place to work.
"As a customer led business, we know it's critical that our teams reflect the communities we serve.
“While we’ve made progress we know there is more we can do and we'll continue working hard to build an even more diverse and inclusive workplace."
Founded in 1924, Woolworths Group is one of Australia's largest employers with more than 200,000 team members serving approximately 29 million customers each week. The Woolworths Group recognises the importance of teams reflecting the communities they serve. At Woolworths Group:
- 54% women and 46% men
- 32% women in senior management
- > 70,000 team members under 25 years old
- More than 1,900 Indigenous Australians and 45 refugees recruited from programs across 528
- stores
- 80 current members in graduate programs
For more information on the Woolworths Group or its Corporate Sustainability initiatives click here.
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