Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index Interest Increases Globally

 The number and diversity of companies that have applied to be included in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) has risen sharply ahead of the September 30 deadline, Bloomberg announced.

Publicly traded companies voluntarily participate in the GEI, which analyses the performance of their diversity and equality policies compared to their peers. The 2022 GEI listing included 418 companies from 11 different sectors in 45 countries. This year, Bloomberg is already seeing an increase in participants and the amount of details being disclosed over last year.

GEI data so far shows:

• the number of accounts registered has risen 40% in the U.S., 39% in Europe, Middle East & Africa, 18% in Asia Pacific and three percent in Latin America
• new country participants include Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Pakistan
• while financial companies have traditionally led the list, now companies in the aerospace, pharmaceutical and technology sectors are participating

“We are gratified to see so many more companies use the GEI to identify and strengthen their policies regarding equal pay and gender pay parity,” said Patricia Torres, Global Head of Bloomberg’s Sustainable Finance Solutions, which includes the GEI. “This transparency helps companies attract employees and gives investors the data they need to make decisions.”

The GEI evaluates companies on five key pillars:

1. Leadership and Talent Pipeline
2. Equal pay and gender pay parity
3. Inclusive Culture
4. Anti-Sexual Harassment Policies
5. External Brand

For the 2023 evaluation, companies asked that Bloomberg add two other areas for exploration — LGBTQ+, race and ethnicity. Disclosure of this data will begin in the US and UK markets; these questions are optional and will not be scored.

Companies participate voluntarily at no cost via the Bloomberg GEI website. The deadline for submission to the 2023 GEI is September 30, 2022. After submitting data, Bloomberg’s GEI team analyses the data and provides the company a scorecard based on the methodology. The team will review the results with the companies, so they know how they were scored and why, prior to the announcement of the GEI results in January 2023.

“Companies can also use the GEI as an internal worksheet,” Torres added. “They can go online, without obligation, and see what the methodology entails. This is helpful in enhancing their gender-equality programs.”

The Bloomberg GEI team held a webinar recently to explain the index and show companies how to participate.

The standardised GEI reporting framework allows investors to compare how companies around the world are investing in women in the workplace, supply chain and communities in which they operate. Submitting data through Bloomberg’s gender reporting framework is voluntary and has no associated cost. The GEI is a benchmark index and is not used as a financial benchmark. The index is not ranked. Companies included in this year’s index scored at or above an overall value set by Bloomberg to reflect a high level of disclosure and overall performance across the five pillars of the framework. To learn more, visit the GEI website. Bloomberg subscribers can access the GEI at {BGEI Index DES }.

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