Diversity and inclusion drive our business 

As research shows, inclusion and diversity drive business and innovation.* At Electrolux, all employees must be treated equally according to their abilities and qualifications in any employment decision, while the company’s focus on inclusion and diversity strengthens our ambition towards profitable growth. 

Electrolux is now committing to lead in diversity. In 2019, Electrolux laid the foundation to define a clear roadmap for inclusion and diversity, including targets and governance, to be launched in 2020. Various activities have already begun.

New Diversity Committees were created for all business areas during 2019. Most of these committees are led by the respective regional CEOs as a demonstration of their constant support.

The committees' purpose is to identify clear and customized actions according to their markets to increase all kinds of diversity around the globe. Gender diversity targets for 2022 have been also set. These targets are detailed per function for each business area, for example, Sales, Marketing, IT, Manufacturing, etc.

Employee initiatives pave the way

Electrolux strongly supports employee initiatives and their vision of contributing to the company's business success by unlocking the full power of inclusion and diversity. By fostering a culture of respect for differences, Electrolux held its first Diversity Week involving all Latin American units last October.

In addition, the Women at Electrolux (WE) network, which began in Charlotte, North America, in August 2017, continues to grow and today comprises of over 1,000 members in eight locations.

During 2019, two new regional WE networks were launched – WE Australia & New Zealand in August and WE Malaysia in November. The ‘WE-versity’ project in Charlotte initiated cross-department collaboration between WE members in Fabric Care R&D and Industrial Design teams while regular lunches with executive management facilitated exposure and advice from leadership.

The Stockholm WE network partnered with the Electrolux 100Women mentoring program and conducted numerous employee workshops on the topic of ‘Unconscious Bias’. Local WE coordinators were established in Poland, to expand the working teams in Świdnica and Zów, and representatives participated in the Women in Tech Summit in Warsaw in November.

Gender diversity in numbers

• Our overall gender division is 39% women and 61% men
• At the end of 2019, 26% of all leaders with direct reports were women
• At the end of 2019, 26% of Tier 2 managers and 27% of Tier 3 managers were women
• We remain committed to achieving our goal of 35% women for Tier 2 and Tier 3 by the end of 2020

As well as gender, Electrolux embraces the importance of recognizing all kinds of diversity and most importantly, inclusion.

Global Internship programs

Our partnership with AIESEC, an international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential, allows us to tap into a diverse talent pool of youth by offering internships throughout our global operations. In 2019, Electrolux recruited 100 AIESEC interns from 38 different countries. 53% were women, with a total global retention rate of 65%.

As part of the Global Engineer Program (GEP), we focus on finding talented women within the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). During 2019, Electrolux recruited 52 GEP interns from 28 different countries. 53% were women, with a total global retention rate of 60% of those who joined in 2018.

Employee Engagement Survey

The results of the Employee Engagement Survey (EES) on diversity and equal treatment still indicate room for improvement and our ongoing work aims to address this.

*https://youtu.be/lPtPG2lAmm4

This case story is related to our Promise Always act ethically and respect human rights.