With its efforts to promote gender equality in the workplace and its value chain, Nestle has been recognised in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) for the fifth consecutive year.

The GEI measures gender equality in over 70 metrics across five pillars - leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and gender equality outside the company).

The company scored 78.5 per cent, above the average index score of 73 per cent.

"We are pleased our efforts to advance gender balance in our workforce and empower women across our value chain have been recognised once again. We strongly believe that taking action to ensure women's equal participation in society is not only the right thing to do; it also supports better decision-making, founded on a more inclusive culture that enhances innovation and increases job satisfaction among employees," said Beatrice Guillaume-Grabisch, head of Group Human Resources and Global Business Services.

“Gender equity is an ongoing journey. We will continue to prioritize it across our business on the path to gender parity,” he added.

Nestle is accelerating efforts to advance gender balance in the company, and continues to put policies, initiatives, and projects in place to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce and culture.

Currently, 45 per cent of its managerial positions are held by women.

In Viet Nam, Nestle has taken some bold steps to advance gender balance and women’s equality in both its workplace and across its value chain through programmes such as ‘Nestle accompanies women’ and NESCAFE Plan.

It has maintained the percentage of women holding senior management positions that is equal to, or at times even exceeds, the number of male colleagues. With nearly 3,000 employees, about half of Nestle Vietnam's management staff are female.

Through the ‘Nestle accompanies women’ programme, since 2020 the company has worked with the Viet Nam Women's Union to promote gender equality and support women, especially those in rural areas, to improve knowledge and skills and create sustainable livelihood models.

Since 2011, Nestle has implemented the NESCAFE Plan in four Central Highlands provinces. Besides creating a positive impact on the sustainable development of Viet Nam's coffee industry, the programme has contributed to improve farmers’ income and enhanced the role and status of women through training female leaders of coffee farmers' groups. — VNS