Though women have come a long way when it comes to career opportunities and growth, their global participation in the workforce remains far behind that of men. According to the International Labour Organization, an estimated 47% of women are in the labor force worldwide compared to 72% of men. And when women are employed, they tend to work in lower quality jobs.
But there are many reasons to be hopeful about women’s future in the workplace. “I am cautiously optimistic,” says Nicole Kyle, co-founder of CMP Research and a 2023 public voices fellow on advancing the rights of women and girls through the nonprofit Equality Now. “During the pandemic, women left the labor force at very high rates, but right now, women of prime working age in the U.S. are returning to the job market in very steady rates—and are now beyond February 2020 levels, at an all-time high, which is very encouraging.”
Also encouraging: many companies are recognizing that in order to attract and retain female talent, it’s critical to offer employees benefits such as flexible work arrangements, skill development programs, family leave options and a mission that aligns with women’s empowerment. So, to recognize the companies that are excelling in these crucial areas, Forbes teamed up with market research firm Statista and ranked the World’s Top Companies For Women 2023.
To create the list, we surveyed approximately 70,000 women working for multinational corporations across 37 countries. Participants were asked—among other questions—if they would recommend their employer to friends or family, and to rate the corporation on both general workplace practices and gender-specific issues including gender pay equity, the management of employee discrimination cases, and whether men and women have the same opportunities for advancement.
Women were also asked to rate other companies within their respective industries, and to evaluate the organizations based on their public image—such as whether a company positions its services or products to actively fight against gender stereotypes, and whether it promotes gender equality through marketing campaigns and nonprofit initiatives. Eligible companies were then assessed on the percentage of women in leadership positions.
Ultimately, all of these data points were combined to produce the scores that determined our final list of the top 400 companies.
Source: Forbes.com
