Accenture sets 2025 Middle East gender equality goal

Accenture has set a target of achieving a gender-balanced workforce, with 50 percent women and 50 percent men, by 2025.

Currently, Accenture has 150,000 female employees, nearly 40 percent of its global workforce.

Over the past few years the company has set milestones on the path to gender equality, including setting a goal to reach 40 percent of new hires being women by 2017, which was achieved a year early.

The firm also promoted its largest percentage of women to managing director level in 2016 (30 percent).

“We believe strongly that gender equality is essential for a high-performing, innovation-led organisation,” 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.”

“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.”

The firm currently sponsors a global executive leadership programme for the company’s most senior women. Since its inception six years ago, approximately 80 percent of the women in the program have been promoted or have significantly expanded their areas of responsibility.