Today many companies regard diversity and inclusion as a competitive advantage. This is a far cry from the past where workplace D&I initiatives were often looked down upon and perhaps even seen as having a potentially negative impact on the business.
However, it is now proven that there is a statistically significant correlation between having higher levels of diversity in company leadership and an increase in profitability when compared against relevant industry competitors.
So what do the stats say?
Diversity & Inclusion statistics
- Diversity & inclusion is an important factor for the majority of today’s candidates: 76% report that a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers (Glassdoor)
- 57% of employers say they have updated their recruitment strategies to build a more diverse workforce (Myshortlister)
- In a survey by Monster, 30% of companies revealed that they don’t have any form of D&I strategy in place (Monster)
- Diverse teams are 87% better at making decisions (PPM)
- In the UK 78% of white people were employed, compared to 66% of people from all other ethnic groups combined (GOV)
- At the end of 2020, just 3.5% of leaders in the FTSE 100 were from ethnic minorities, down from 7% in 2019 and 8% in 2018 (Green Park, 2021).
- Companies that have a diversity and inclusion policy but do not provide evidence of a diverse and inclusive workplace are viewed more negatively by minority groups (Wilton, 2020)
- Diverse leadership and management have been shown to improve company revenue by around 19% (InStride)
- 35% of HR leaders say diversity, equity, and inclusion are among their top five priorities for 2022 (Gartner)
- Only 47% of managers feel prepared to have conversations about race with employees (Gallup)
- Social mobility is still lacking. 60% of respondents in professional and managerial positions come from a white professional background. With only 34% coming from an ethnic minority and low socio economic background (KPMG)
- Almost 70% of companies say that the work employees do to promote DEI is very or extremely critical (Mckinsey)
- 34% of employees have received antiracism training in the past year (Mckinsey)
- 70% of companies think that remote work will allow them to increase diversity in their hiring (Mckinsey)
- Millennials are 83% more likely to be engaged at work at inclusive companies (Deloitte)
Gender diversity stats
- 73% of senior business leaders say they are highly committed to gender diversity, and close to 50% say they are actively working to improve gender diversity (Mckinsey)
- 87% of companies say they are highly committed to gender diversity vs 56% in 2012 (Mckinsey)
- Women occupy just 20% of board seats globally (Deloitte)
- Companies with female CEOs have significantly more diverse boards than those run by men – 33% women versus 19% (Deloitte)
- Over 40% of board seats among French companies are now occupied by women (Deloitte)
- Black women continue to be underrepresented in leadership roles across the UK workforce, with 92% calling for systemic change (LSE, 2020)
- Blind applications lead to between 25 – 46% more women being selected (Bulitin)
- Gender diverse companies are 15% more likely to notice higher financial returns. (McKinsey)
LGBTdiversity stats
- 31% of LGBT respondents reported that they have experienced discrimination or harassment within the past five years (Williams Institute)
- 63% of LGBT employees of color said that religion was a motivating factor in their experiences of workplace discrimination compared to 49% of white LGBT employees (Williams Institute)
- Nearly half (48%) of transgender employees reported experiencing discrimination (being fired or not hired) based compared to 27% of LGB employees (Williams Institute)
- 67% of LGBT employees reported that they have heard negative comments, slurs, or jokes about LGBTQ people at work (Williams Institute)
Neurodiversity stats
- According to one study an autistic professional can be up to 140% more productive than an average employee when properly matched with a job that fits their skills (HBR)
- 89% of people want their company to be inclusive of individuals with intellectual disabilities (Clearcompany)
- In the U.K. the unemployment rate for autistic people is as high as 78%, while in the U.S. that number jumps to 85% (HBR)
- In a 2020 report on U.K. employers, 50% of managers surveyed said they would not hire neurodivergent candidates. (HBR)
Sources:
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/348266/actions-leaders-improve-dei-workplace.aspx
https://hbr.org/2021/12/autism-doesnt-hold-people-back-at-work-discrimination-does
https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Workplace-Discrimination-Sep-2021.pdf
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace
https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/glassdoors-diversity-and-inclusion-workplace-survey/
https://hiring.monster.com/resources/blog/future-of-work-2021-summary/
https://www.myshortlister.com/insights/recruiting-statistics
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/leadership/women-in-the-boardroom.html
https://blog.clearcompany.com/12-workplace-diversity-statistics
https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/diversity-in-the-workplace-statistics
https://www.instride.com/insights/workplace-diversity-and-inclusion-statistics/