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Exertis has announced its participation in International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8th March as part of its wider commitment to “fostering an inclusive and diverse culture across the business”.
It will celebrate IWD with a number of planned events including networking sessions and panel discussions on the topic of diversity and inclusion.
“While today we’re shining a light on some of our female colleagues, we know that it’s diversity in its broadest sense that we’re striving for. Not only because of the business benefits that it brings, but fundamentally because we believe everyone deserves to feel valued, included and celebrated,” said Nick Foster, Exertis HR director.
“Exertis has organised a number of events across our sites to encourage conversations about the benefits of celebrating inclusion, talent and diversity whilst recognising some of the fantastic achievements from females in the company who help to make the extraordinary happen for our customers. These events are part of a wider series of awareness days that we are planning to run in 2020 and beyond.”
There were 180,000 women in tech (IT professional) jobs in 2019, representing 16.4 per cent of the workforce, whereas there were 181,500 in 2018 – so there has been a slight decrease following several years of sustained growth according to WISE. Initiatives such as IWD help to create awareness and encourage women to take advantage of the growth in, and diverse nature of, the tech industry.
Liz Greenwood, Exertis UK’s IT director, commented: “Technology is a profession where you will never get bored and you can see how it can reshape business and society. It is fascinating. More senior executives need to actively sponsor programmes in schools with teachers and pupils. Maths and Science are not the only paths to IT – Business Analysis, Service Desk Management and other disciplines require different skills.”
Overall Exertis UK has 40 per cent of women in its workforce and almost 33 per cent employed in its logistic centres.
“One of the reasons I joined Exertis is that I think the company provides opportunities for people who push themselves outside their comfort zone. I think it’s prepared to take a chance on people that have the right attitude and work ethic. I see an organisation where anyone can become anything,” said Jo Lawrence, Exertis’ head of UK HR.
Exertis will be running a networking and panel discussion on IWD to celebrate and create awareness of how inclusion, talent and diversity can bring both personal and organisational success. Commenting on International Women’s Day, Lisa Bird, Exertis’ head of customer excellence, said: “IWD is an opportunity to recognise women’s achievements from all walks of life. It’s important everyone has an equal chance to make the most of their talent and capabilities. I want to be judged on my output and not my gender.”
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