Arçelik lands breakthrough spot on Bloomberg’s Gender Equality Index 2023

Arçelik, the global home appliances company, has announced that it has been recognized in Bloomberg’s 2023 Gender Equality Index (GEI) for the first time ever this year. As part of the index, Arçelik joins 485 other companies recognized for their commitment to advancing women’s equality across five gender quality pillars: leadership & talent pipeline, equal pay & gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and external brand.

The Gender-Equality Index is a modified market capitalization-weighted index developed to gauge the performance of public companies dedicated to reporting gender-related data. With strong international significance, the index reaches globally to represent 45 countries and regions, including firms headquartered in Luxembourg, Ecuador, and Kuwait for the first time. Member companies represent a variety of sectors, including financial services, technology, and utilities, which continue to have the highest company representation in the index from 2022.

Hakan Bulgurlu, CEO of Arçelik, commented:  “We are immensely proud to be included in the Bloomberg GEI for the first time this year. At Arçelik, we believe in a world where everyone has access to equal opportunities and is treated with respect. Our culture places a strong emphasis on DEI, and we work to promote gender equality across all our operations. Equality is a prerequisite for sustainable development. We will constantly double down on our efforts to address today’s challenges and secure an equal and inclusive future for all.

The inclusion of Arçelik within the index comes just under a year after Koç Holding Group, under which Arçelik operates, launched its gender equality initiative in technology and innovation that led Arçelik to announce new equity commitments across its operations.

These commitments focused on raising equality between men and women in the workplace with Arçelik committing to doubling the number of women working in STEM from 16% to 35% and providing technology, design, IT, and software training to 100,000 girls.

Arçelik has a rich history of continued commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion; before ranking 17^th place in Refinitiv’s Diversity and Inclusion index in 2021, Arçelik initiated the “You’re an Engineer: You’re With Us” Project in Turkey in 2019 and expanded the program in Pakistan, Romania and in South Africa under the name WE-inTech in 2022 .

Developed to encourage younger generations, especially women, to work in engineering and next generation research and development, the project comprised of immersive and inspirational workshops featuring quality training, teamwork and ideation sessions. Once complete, participants were given the opportunity to work one-on-one with their mentors for a year on various projects.

The inclusion on Bloomberg’s GEI is determined by a social survey created by Bloomberg, in collaboration with subject matter experts globally. Those included on this year’s index scored at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect disclosure and the achievement or adoption of best-in-class statistics and policies.