NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Accenture (NYSE:ACN) today published the 2016 demographics of its U.S. workforce for gender, ethnicity, persons with disabilities and veterans, showing modest increases in these areas of diversity over 2015. The company also set a new goal to grow the percentage of its women in the U.S. from 36 percent to 40 percent by 2020.
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“We published the demographics of our U.S. workforce last year to kick off a new level of collaboration and innovation with our people, our clients and our communities, and to hold ourselves accountable for our progress,” said Julie Sweet, Accenture’s chief executive officer – North America. “While we have made modest progress in our diversity, there is still much more to do. Our focus is on taking significant new steps to foster an even more inclusive environment, which includes a new goal to grow the percentage of our women in the U.S.”
The company reported an addition of more than 1,000 employees of diverse backgrounds in the U.S. over 2015, which increased the representation of women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, veterans and persons with disabilities. In addition, 43 percent of Accenture's new hires in the U.S. in 2016 were women.
Accenture takes a broad view of diversity across abilities, age, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression.
“Our commitment to inclusion and diversity is unwavering, and we believe it makes us smarter, more competitive and more innovative – and is a key part of what makes Accenture a great place to work,” added Sweet. “We remain laser-focused on speeding the pace of our progress, and we are actively listening to our people so that we can continue to create an environment where everyone feels they belong.”
The company has taken new steps to increase progress toward a more diverse and inclusive workplace. These include:
- Setting a new goal for gender diversity. By 2020, the company plans to grow its percentage of women in the U.S. to at least 40 percent.
- Launching a new referral program, in October 2016, that rewards employees – the company’s best source of new talent – for successfully referring female, African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, veterans, and persons with disabilities candidates in the U.S. In the first four months, the company increased its number of both employee referrals and diverse hires by 20 percent.
- Facilitating open, brave conversations about diversity with its people, within its industry and within its communities. Notably, in July 2016, following racial tensions in the U.S., Accenture’s people in the U.S. were invited to a “Building Bridges” town hall broadcast. The company continues to convene conversations, both virtually and in-person, on topics that are most important to its people.
Accenture is also collaborating across business and government to further diversity in the workplace, with commitments to gender equality that include the White House Equal Pay Pledge; Paradigm for Parity, which, with 35 other companies, establishes actions to achieve gender parity in the workplace by 2030; and Catalyst’s CEO Champions for Change.
To learn more about Inclusion & Diversity at Accenture visit accenture.com.
Accenture in the United States
Accenture is a leading professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. With more than 50,000 people and operations in 41 cities in the United States, Accenture serves 93 of the Fortune 100 and more than 70 percent of the Fortune 500. In the United States, Accenture has innovation hubs which bring together key elements of the Accenture Innovation Architecture – including labs, studios and innovation centers – to help clients develop and deliver disruptive innovations to drive growth. With an unwavering commitment to inclusion and diversity, Accenture is consistently recognized on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For and DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity lists.
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