Committed to a gender-balanced workforce, Accenture has set a target to achieve the gender parity with 50 percent men and 50 percent women by 2025. Currently, Accenture has about 150,000 women employees which comprise 40% of its global workforce. 

“Diversity makes our business stronger and more innovative and, most important, it makes the world a better place. With this new goal, we are sending an important message to our people and our clients confirming our commitment to a gender-balanced workforce,” said Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s Chairman, and CEO. 

Over the past several years the company has set milestones on the path to gender equality. These include:

• Setting a goal to reach 40 percent women new hires by 2017 – and achieving it a year early
• Promoting its largest percentage of women to the managing director level in 2016 (30 percent)
• Growing its percentage of women managing directors to 25 percent globally by 2020

“We embrace diversity as a source of creativity and competitive advantage. As we work toward ‘50 by 25,’ our ultimate 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,” said Ellyn Shook, Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer at Accenture.

The company has taken many steps to attract, retain, advance and sponsor women on its path to achieving a gender-balanced workforce, including sponsoring the company’s most senior women to advance in P&L roles. Since its inception six years ago, approximately 80 percent of the women in the global executive leadership program have been promoted or have significantly expanded their areas of responsibility. Delivering on a commitment to transparency. The company has set and published clear, measurable targets to grow its number of women, and has published its workforce demographics in many countries including the US, Canada, South Africa, Japan, India and ASEAN countries. 

Accenture launched initiatives that provide women with in-demand skills. 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. 

The company also collaborated across business and government to further gender equality in the workplace, with commitments that include the White House Equal Pay Pledge, Paradigm for Parity, and Catalyst CEO Champions for Change.