Benchmarking Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in 2022

Curated by Illoominus 

Written by: Millie O. Symns, Noelle London, Anusha Kuppahally

Introduction 

When setting your company's DEI strategy for the next year or so, it's helpful to have additional benchmarking data for representation in your geography, industry, and across similar sized companies to provide important context for the data in your organization. This context triggers vital conversations for realistic, yet ambitious goal setting and comparisons to other related companies. 

We created this report for People Leaders to use as a starting point for their discussions around goal setting for diversity and representation within their organization. Learnings come from observing workforce population data across the top 100 companies in the United States over the course of two years. We allow you to explore the data by industry, and conclude with some actionable items and next steps for your organization. 

Methodology 

Data was collected from top companies as they appear in Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For® list in collaboration with Great Place to Work, a list released every year highlighting companies in the US. As Fortune describes: 

The 100 Best adapted to massive changes in the workplace by prioritizing employee well-being, inclusion, purpose, listening and care wherever their employees are— both in and outside the office—to defy the Great Resignation. 

For the companies to make it on this list, Fortune interviews and surveys 800,000+ employees. Fortune then analyzes results of demographic groups to assess the overall experiences of employees. To be considered for the list, companies must have at least 1,000 U.S. employees, and can  not be a government agency. In addition, the company needs to abide by Fortune’s rules around survey dissemination and results. Visit Fortune’s website to learn more about the methodology and ranking of these companies. 

Data Collection 

For this report, we compiled a data set to provide benchmark statistics for your company's goal setting in conjunction with Fortune's selected list of companies. The data below combines data collected from company diversity statements, over 400 company annual DEI reports, and additional data sources totalling over 4500 data points. Companies across industries have various timelines and methods for reporting their companies' DEI metrics. When gathering this data in August 2022, the information cited was from 2022 (65 percent), then 2021 (29 percent). Taking a deeper look at the best companies to work for, over half of the companies (58 percent) on the 100 Best Companies to Work For® are from the Information Technology, Financial Services & Insurance, and Professional Services industries

Over 80 percent of companies had a diversity statement, whether it be facts on a site or a full report (as of August 2022). It is important to note there were varying degrees of detail in the diversity statements that were found—from high-level population statistics to breakdowns of representation across leadership levels.

Demographic data 

Companies vary in how and when they present their data. At the time of collection, 6 of the 100 companies were missing demographic data. 

Gender 

About half of the industries represented in this list have a 50/50 balance of men to women in their company. One of the points to consider is if the balance takes place at all levels of the company–from individual contributors to the executive suite. 

Race and Ethnicity 

Looking at representation of race and ethnicity, the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals, Hospitality, and Information Technology industries all had a balance of Black, Asian, and Latinx individuals to White individuals. Similar to assessing gender, it is unclear if the balance in representation holds across all levels. 

Additional thoughts to consider 

This report gives you a bird's eye view of what representation looks like across industries of the top 100 companies. Given the nature of the data collected, many questions remain unanswered that are particularly important when deciding what goals to set as an organization. To support stronger benchmarking across organizations, we would suggest companies begin to share the following:

  • How does representation in different levels (from individual contributors to the executive team) compare to the company as a whole?

  • How does your company compare to others in the same industry? 

  • What does representation look like from an intersectional perspective between race and ethnicity (i.e., how many Black women vs. White women vs. Latinx women, etc.)?

  • What does representation look like across age, ability, and LGBTQIA+ groups? These data points may not yet be provided as companies navigate employee privacy or data collection processes for these other details.

Conclusion

Observing available data for the 100 Best Companies to Work For® published by Fortune, we can gleam what representation looks like across industries in the United States. From what we do know, although companies are becoming more balanced in regards to gender, improvements should be made to achieve representation across race and ethnicity.

As you better understand industry benchmarks to support your company's goals for race and gender groups, our recommendations are that if your organization is:

  • Not close to the benchmark: set your goal to work towards meeting the benchmark

  • Close to the benchmark: set your goal to go 5 percent or more above the benchmark 

  • Above the benchmark: set your goal to go 10 percent above your current numbers. You should also be challenging yourself to next-level conversations on representation.

As you’re working to make your organization more inclusive, external benchmarks can provide helpful context to understand how your company compares relative to the industry. We hope this information is a helpful starting point for your company’s conversations on how to set both achievable and ambitious goals. We encourage you to not “meet the benchmark,” but demonstrate leadership in your industries and ensure a more representative, and more future-proof organization.

Contact Us 

We hope you find this report helpful to begin the conversation on setting goals for your company to address diversity, equity and inclusion. If you would like to access the full dataset or if you have any questions, please reach out to us at support@illoominus.com.