• Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Levi’s publishes first DE&I Impact Report with plan to drive diversity

Levi’s publishes first DE&I Impact Report with plan to drive diversity

By Rachel Douglass

loading...

Scroll down to read more

Business

Image: Levi's AW21

Levi Strauss & Co. has published its first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Impact Report, in a bid to transparently communicate its progress in the area.

For some elements of the report, partial progress was evident in the company’s figures. For example, its executive leadership team now consists of more women than men, with 61.5 percent women-led. However, there were no changes in BIPOC representation at this level. At the corporate level, Levi’s saw an increase of 7.3 percent in Black representation and a rise of 2.5 percent in Latinx inclusion.

The company did report a shift in the diversity of its frontline workers too, with Black team members now representing 20.5 percent of its US-based workforce, in comparison to its 2020 figure 18 percent.

Four step roadmap

Recognising that there is still room for improvement, Levi’s outlined a four-step plan to continue working towards its goals in an attempt to “double down” on its commitments. It firstly will look to build a multiyear strategy that can be defined globally, followed by an assessment of practices and policies to further evolve its thinking.

Thirdly, Levi’s said it wants to challenge the status quo through defined actions that aim to attract and grow women and BIPOC talent. Finally, its fourth point is to “be all in”, in which it said it will recognise only collective action and impact.

In the reports opening, the company’s president and CEO, Chip Bergh, noted past and recent aggressions against the Black and Brown communities that have forced the company to look in on itself.

Talking about his response to the related events in 2020, Bergh said: “I committed back then that part of my legacy must be that I have reshaped the organisation and culture to be more diverse and inclusive and to reflect the consumers we serve around the world. It is not just the right thing to do. It is a business imperative.”

He continued: “As good as our business results have been over the last decade, in my heart, I know we could have done even better if we had been more diverse over that time.”

From June 2020, Bergh said the company committed to building a more diverse culture through concrete action steps to drive structural change in a bid to hold themselves accountable and make meaningful progress.

While the report outlines the company’s current milestones, it also outlined four new commitments for the future, including improving the tracking and measuring of its impact. It also said it will ensure employees of all backgrounds have access to meaningful career opportunities and develop stronger leaders with essential capabilities.

Furthermore, Levi’s hopes to “grow as an industry leader in employee well-being” through supportive policies that support the needs of employees.

Diversity
Levi's