L’Oreal shows a glass ceiling effect and a big gender pay gap for its female staff

A company’s workforce at all levels needs 40-60% of either gender to be considered balanced1;pxii. Globally, only 55% of women participate in the labor force, compared to men’s rate of 78%2. Female underrepresentation limits economic development and leads to an unequal share of economic growth3. Further, the global gender pay gap stands at 40% ($0.6 per every $1 made by men)2, which can perpetuate poverty4. Among France’s biggest companies, women account for 45% of boards5 however, a study found around 70% of French firms have less than 30% of women on executive committees6. The pay gap in France is 11.8% ($0.88 per $1)7.

L’Oreal, based in France8;p440, is the top global player in the cosmetics market9, with 85,412 staff in 150 countries (2021)8;p14. L’Oreal's overall female ratio is 50% (42,706)8;p59. 55% of L’Oreal's "key positions" are held by women8;p14 as well as 47% of the top 300 strategic roles8;p112. L’Oreal’s board yields a gender parity of 50%: 8 women and 8 men8;p75.

Among L’Oreal’s women empowerment initiatives (2021) is training 250 female scientists8;p252, as well as supporting 2,834 female suppliers8;p204. One of L’Oreal’s goals is to achieve gender parity (minimum 40%) at all levels8;p243 by ensuring that all jobs are accessible to women and men during recruitment and career growth8;p244. Despite this goal8;p78, women still make up 32% of L’Oreal’s Executive Committee8;p112, having increased only 0.7% since 2018 (women made 31.3%)10;p9. In addition, L’Oreal’s new recruitments (12,996), staff development, contract type, and number of departures (11,977) data is not gender-disaggregated8;p229-232.

In 2021, women at L’Oreal UK (employing +3k people13) earned $0.66 for every $1 earned by men11, having worsened by 2 points since 2018, when the pay gap was 32%12.

L’Oreal shows a general lack of gender lenses and a glass ceiling effect in executive roles for women. L’Oreal needs to improve gender empowerment efforts to ensure consistent long-lasting change.

This post was originally published on April 19th, 2022 at Impaakt.com. Find the original post here.