SERAMOUNT REVEALS THE 2024 BEST COMPANIES FOR MULTICULTURAL WOMEN

The Estée Lauder Companies Earn Number One Spot

June 12, 2024 (Washington, DC)—Seramount revealed the 2024 Best Companies for Multicultural Women today. This honor recognizes the top 80 companies that create and use best practices in hiring, retaining, and promoting multicultural women in the United States. The Estée Lauder Companies has been named the number one company on this year’s list.

The complete list can be found here.

For more than 20 years, Seramount’s Best Companies for Multicultural Women has tracked corporations’ progress in creating cultures that encourage multicultural women to join and rise through the ranks. This year’s survey continued to assess progress for women by specific racial/ethnic groups as well as factors influencing that progress, including mental health, anti-racism progress, and participation in mentoring and sponsorship programs. 

“Companies continue to recognize the importance of recruiting and retaining multicultural women,” said Subha V. Barry, President of Seramount. “While there is still work to be done to increase representation, we celebrate the efforts of these 80 companies in fostering inclusive workplace environments with strong career development strategies and comprehensive DEI programs to support this critical talent pool.”

Key findings from Seramount’s 2024 Best Companies for Multicultural Women Survey:

• Twenty-six percent of Best Companies’ workforce are women of color, up from 25 percent last year. This includes:
  • Nine percent Black/African American women, same as last year
  • Ten percent Hispanic/Latine women, up from 8 percent last year
  • Five percent Asian women, down from 6 percent last year
  • Two percent women who are two or more races, same as last year
• Increases in women of color representation was seen at the higher employee levels. Eleven percent of corporate executives (top two levels below CEO) are women of color, up from 10 percent last year. Among corporate executives who report directly to the CEO, 14 percent are women of color, up from 11 percent last year.
• Twenty-eight percent of employees promoted are women of color, up from 25 percent last year, and 35 percent of new hires are women of color (new question this year).
• Participation by women of color in Best Companies’ advancement programs is strong:
  • Twenty-nine percent of mentees are women of color, up from 28 percent last year.
  • Thirty-four percent of protégés (in formal sponsorship programs) are women of color, up from 32 percent last year.
  • Twenty-eight percent of leadership development program participants are women of color, up from 24 percent last year.
• Eighty-five percent offer specific programs to address racial trauma, up from 80 percent last year.
• Ninety-six percent of Best Companies regularly audit human resource/people processes to address bias, same as last year.
• Ninety-nine percent of Best Companies conduct pay-equity analyses (same as last year). Among these companies, 95 percent base the analysis on both gender and race/ethnicity, up from 90 percent last year.

Best Companies Workforce Composition 

The 2024 Best Companies for Multicultural Women employ about 2.3 million people at 30,833 work sites in every state across 18 industries: chemical, consumer products, education, financial or property and casualty insurance, financial services, health insurance, hospitality, hospitals/health care, legal, manufacturing, media, Internet, advertising, nonprofit/not-for-profit, pharmaceuticals, professional services/management consulting/accounting, retail and apparel, science/technology/engineering/aerospace/medical devices, telecommunications, and utilities. 

Methodology 

The Best Companies for Multicultural Women application includes 545 questions on representation; hiring, attrition, and promotion rates; recruitment, retention, and advancement programs; and company culture. Our scoring algorithm is based on the previous year’s benchmark results, which then determine the winners.   

About Seramount

Seramount is a strategic professional services and research firm dedicated to supporting high-performing, inclusive workplaces. Over four decades, we’ve established a strong, data-driven understanding of the employee experience, which lays the groundwork for everything we do. Seramount partners with over 450 of the world’s most influential companies, large and small, to offer pragmatic solutions including best practice DEI research, workplace assessment, employee learning and development, and talent sourcing. These offerings empower companies to navigate a dynamic corporate environment and to cultivate a resilient, connected workforce that achieves extraordinary outcomes.

PRESS CONTACT 

Seramount

Stefanie McNamara, Seramount, [email protected] 

Ashleigh Murray, Seramount, [email protected]