Accenture has announced that it will achieve a gender-balanced workforce, with 50 percent women and 50 percent men, by 2025. Currently, Accenture has 150,000 women, nearly 40 percent of its global workforce. Over the past several years the company has set milestones on the path to gender equality.
“We embrace diversity as a source of creativity and competitive advantage,” said Omar Boulos, Regional Managing Director of Accenture in the Middle East and North Africa. “As we work toward ‘50 by 2025’, globally and in the Middle East region, our goal is to create a truly human environment where people have a real sense of belonging, where they can show up every day, be who they are and be their best, both professionally and personally.”
Accenture has taken a number of steps to attract, retain, advance and sponsor women on its path to achieving a gender balanced workforce. The firm is also sponsoring a global executive leadership program for the company’s most senior women. The company has also set and published clear, measurable targets to grow its number of women, and has published its workforce demographics in many countries including the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Japan, India and ASEAN countries.
“We believe strongly that gender equality is essential for a high-performing, innovation-led organization,” said Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s chairman and CEO. “Diversity makes our business stronger and more innovative and, most important, it makes the world better. With this new goal, we are sending an important message to our people and our clients that our future workforce is an equal workforce.”
To further this goal, Accenture has also been launching initiatives that provide women with in-demand skills and has collaborated across business and government to further gender equality in the workplace. For example, the company’s Women in Technology program helps fast-track the careers of high-performing women toward the position of Technical Architect, a high-demand and short-supply role.
