For the third consecutive year, Itaú Unibanco is one of the companies that most promote gender equality in the world. The institution is among the 230 companies that make up the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI).
The 2019 edition recognizes companies from 36 different countries and operating in 10 sectors (including finance, energy, technology, basic industries, consumer goods, food and communications) for their commitment to transparency in the disclosure of gender indicators. The index assessment methodology considers actions and policies for employees, offering specific products and services to female customers, the company's engagement with the topic and with the community, as well as the company's internal statistics related to gender equality.
In total, these companies have a market capitalization of around US$1.4 trillion and employ more than 15 million people, including 7 million women. “It is gratifying to receive this international recognition once again. We have made significant progress in the gender equality agenda and being included in the GEI once again shows that we are heading in the right direction,” says Claudia Politanski, vice president of Itaú Unibanco. “It is a great incentive for us to continue evolving,” she adds.
For Itaú, the highlights for achieving recognition were:
– the percentage of female executives increased by 33.4% from 2017 to 2018;
– an increase of 14% of women among the 10% of highest paid executives;
– 85% increase in women participating in sponsorship programs;
– increase of 75.5% in female employees participating in coaching programs;
– 4.5% increase in women in development programs;
– training managers to combat unconscious bias and requiring a diverse range of candidates to compete for management positions.
The complete list of selected companies is at https://www.bloomberg.com/company/announcements/2019-bloomberg-gender-equality-index/.
