BLOOMBERG PUBLISHES GENDER EQUALITY INDEX & JUST ONE GAMES COMPANY FEATURES…

The Bloomberg Gender Equality Index 2023 has been published, this year featuring some 484 global companies based in more than 45 countries and regions. Just one games organisation – NetEase – is listed.

GEI participants are scored against five key pillars: leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and external brand. In addition to the pillars, exploratory questions were included in the Framework, allowing for other areas of the “S” to be explored. These questions, surveyed but not scored, covered other areas such as race and sexual orientation, gender identity and ethnicity.
The accompanying 2023 GEI Insights Report helps to illuminate the data cultivated, and provides a general analysis on the current state of social reporting in the corporate space. Key areas include: Intersectionality, flexible work and employee engagement.

Representation Matters
For GEI members, companies led by women have higher representation of women at all levels.  GEI Member companies with greater than 30% women representation on the board have, on average, 27% of women executives within the corporation, as compared to 20% of women executives in firms with less than 30% of women on the board.

Holding Leadership Accountable
Another theme amongst member companies is the integration of diversity policies in executive evaluations. This year, 64% of GEI members have implemented diversity and inclusion goals for managers in performance reviews, an 8-point increase from last year. Additionally, 86% of members offer unconscious bias training, with 74% of those companies tracking manager completion.

It should be noted that companies are invited to submit for inclusion in the Gender Equality Index, so the exclusion of other games companies who are working hard in this field is not down to their eligibility.

But congratulations to NetEase are in order for making gender equality a priority within its organisation, and for being included on the Index for the second year running. According to the company, a significant portion of its management positions are held by women. Women comprise 40% of NetEase’s board of directors, and 37% of NetEase 30,000 global employees are women.

“We are honoured to be recognised again by the Bloomberg GEI for our commitment to gender equality, and to be included in the company of some of the most respected and highly diversified companies around the world,” said William Ding, founder and CEO of NetEase.

“We remain committed to continuing the work of advancing equality, diversity and inclusion and building a company where people are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. An inclusive workplace fuels creativity, innovation and development and this honour motivates us to push forward.”

Find out more about the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index here.