The Emirates Group is taking a strong stance on gender equality, making significant strides in empowering women within its workforce and championing their leadership potential.
Celebrating Women and Launching New Initiatives
To mark International Women’s Day 2024, Emirates highlighted its unwavering commitment to women through various initiatives:
- Empowering Women Leaders: Employees participated in talks by Liz Wiseman, a renowned leadership author, gaining valuable insights to enhance their leadership skills.
- Gender Balance Council Established: A dedicated council was launched to represent women employees, foster knowledge sharing, and advance gender balance. This council will oversee mentorship programs, professional development workshops, and outreach events designed to support women in the workplace.
Striving for Parity Across All Levels
The group’s comprehensive gender balance strategy focuses on three key areas:
- Equal Pay and Opportunity: Ensuring fair compensation and equal recruitment, development, and promotion opportunities across genders.
- Balanced Policies and Inclusivity: Implementing balanced policies, inclusivity programs, and initiatives that support women’s professional growth.
Women are a Growing Force in the Emirates
The strategy is proving successful. As of March 1, 2024:
- Women comprise 43% of the total workforce (26,896 employees), including 1,240 UAE nationals.
- Women are well-represented across all levels:
- 39% of middle management and 15% of executive management.
- 56% of new joiners and a significant portion of those promoted (55%).
- Over half (50%) of those transitioning from middle to senior management.
- A substantial majority (67%) of lateral moves within the company.
- Women hold 462 unique roles exclusively.
- Training and development programs are inclusive, with women accounting for 26% of leadership and management training participants.
- Emirates fosters a supportive environment for working mothers, with an impressive 88% of women overall and 85% of cabin crew returning to work after maternity leave.
- Achievement recognition is gender-neutral, with 30% of total employee awards going to women (3,659 women).
Global Partnerships and Initiatives
The group actively participates in global efforts to promote gender equality:
- UAE Gender Balance Council Pledge: Signed in 2023, this pledge aims to achieve 30% women in the workforce and increase female representation in middle to senior management by 2025.
- NOORA Network and Aurora 50 Partnership: Emirates co-founded NOORA, a network supporting ambitious women, and partnered with Aurora50 to further empower women from diverse backgrounds.
- UN Global Compact: Emirates and dnata joined the UN Global Compact, reaffirming their commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Four women employees are part of the UNGC’s Target Gender Equality accelerator program.
- IATA 25×2025: DNATA, a subsidiary of the Emirates Group, is committed to this initiative and offers programs that support women’s career development and smooth reintegration into the workforce after maternity leave.
Going Beyond the Workplace
Emirates’ commitment to women extends beyond its employees. The Emirates Airline Foundation supports the IIMPACT Girls Education Project in India, transforming lives by empowering girls through education.
The Foundation also fully funds the Saint Rita de Cassia Orphanage in Brazil, providing a safe haven for abandoned girls.
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