Gender diversity
Downer’s total workforce profile is 34 per cent female and 66 per cent male. As at 30 June 2021, our female employee metrics, including Spotless, were:
- 25% Executive
- 17% Management
- 34% Workforce
In this period, the Downer business has:
- Increased women in executive roles by three per cent.
- Decreased women in management by six per cent and the workforce by one per cent. The sale of our Laundries business is a key contributor to the decrease in both categories.
Our gender focus enabled Downer to realise several objectives around increasing female participation and engagement. In FY21, Downer:
- Launched a pilot of THRIVE women’s empowerment and capability building program in Australia, with 250 candidates registering to complete the program over the next 12 months
- Continued to run our New Zealand team’s successful Women in Leadership Downer (WILD) program in Auckland to help develop authentic women leaders while recognising the challenges of working in a male-dominated organisation. We will continue to roll out this program each year
- Utilised Work180’s job board for Downer target positions, and leveraged other benefits of the Work180 partnership, including attendance at a virtual careers fair for women in engineering.
While our MentorLoop mentoring program was developed in FY20, the program’s release was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions and has subsequently been put on hold. However, elements of this program have been adapted into the THRIVE women’s empowerment and capability building program, which incorporates a mentoring component during and following the program’s delivery.
In addition to these Group-wide programs, our Business Units also rolled out initiatives to increase female representation across our workforce. For example, Downer’s Technology and Communications Services (T&CS) business established a Women’s Leadership Forum, bringing together women from across T&CS to develop initiatives that support the progression of women into leadership roles. A key deliverable of the forum was the development of ‘Courageously You’, a nine-month program which commenced in March 2021. The program focuses on empowering women to develop their confidence and business leadership skills through monthly sessions facilitated by internal and external speakers. The pilot program also includes mentoring opportunities, structured training plans and career pathways to facilitate progression.
Two of the six Non-Executive Directors on the Downer Board are women as at 30 June 2021.
