Employers rank each other in Vault’s Annual Diversity Survey
IBM wins top spot; Sodexo and PepsiCo tie for No. 2
 
TARP money did not help stem fall in diversity
at banks; Minority retention numbers down
 

NEW YORK, August 24, 2009: Vault (www.vault.com), the web’s most comprehensive resource for career intelligence, today announced the results of their Annual Diversity Survey. The recession dealt a severe blow to diversity initiatives at most surveyed employers with many reporting deep cuts and temporarily shelved training programs.

This year, for the first time, participating employers were asked to rank each other. With over 75 percent of surveyed employers responding, IBM won the top spot. “We welcomed several new participants this year with employers volunteering their minority statistics and strategies for the first time, making our survey responses truly diverse in terms of industry and professions,” says Vault’s Corporate Responsibility Editor Aman Singh.

Sodexo and PepsiCo tied for No. 2 with the rest of the Top 10 trailing by a wide margin.

The Top 10 peer-ranked employers from Vault’s Diversity Survey are:

1.    IBM

2.    Sodexo

2.    PepsiCo

3.    Coca Cola

3.    Johnson & Johnson

4. Wells Fargo

5. Deloitte

6. GE

7. General Mills

8. Verizon

9. PricewaterhouseCoopers

10. Procter & Gamble

New participants include energy companies Allegheny Energy, Chevron, Diageo and National Grid, consulting behemoth Bain & Co., insurance provider Blue Shield Blue Cross, space and defense contractor Aerojet, retailer Wal-mart (returns to the survey after a year’s hiatus) and multinational conglomerate Honeywell International.

With 217 companies participating, public and private, along with government agencies, representing all major industries, statistics confirmed emerging trends. This year, we added new questions to ascertain the full effect of the ongoing recession.  These included retention rates and a breakdown of diversity recruitment. Hiring remained stagnant at best through most of last year, however, companies continue to segregate funding to enhance and develop diversity training.

Broken down by industry, the Vault/INROADS Guide to Corporate Diversity Program in its fifth edition this year encapsulates efforts by employers industry-wide, including government agencies (United Postal Service, NAVAIR, etc.) and departments (North Carolina Office of State Personnel, Minnesota Department of Transportation, etc.). While financial services showed the most decline in 2008 staff levels as well as minority retention, there were some that managed to buck the trend. TD Securities reported no change in employee count while accounting firms actually seemed to suffer the least. Deloitte reported an 8% increase in the number of minorities hired while PricewaterhouseCoopers lost a meager 1% of their minority staffers. On the other end of the spectrum were companies like Citigroup that lost 12% in minorities and dropped 5.76% in employees who had been with the company five years or more, but continued to keep their diversity training programs funded.

The Vault/SEO Guide to Financial Services Diversity Programs, also in its fifth year chronicles financial providers’ diversity efforts nationwide and welcomed several first timers this year. Regions Financial, Vanguard, Liberty Mutual, Northern Trust and American Express were some of the companies that volunteered essential information about their diversity initiatives this year.

Finally, the Vault Guide to Engineering Diversity Programs, in its third year, caters to companies that hire engineering candidates. Architectural firm Pitney Bowes debuted this year as well as Occidental Oil and Gas, FedEx and pharmaceutical firm Bayer.

About Vault:
Vault.com is the Web’s most comprehensive resource for career management and job search information, including insider intelligence on salaries, hiring practices and company cultures. Vault features thousands of profiles on occupations, industries, companies and universities, as well as career-related articles, videos, blogs and research tools.  The company publishes more than 120 print and online titles, from the best-selling Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms to the Vault Guide to Schmoozing. Vault’s clients include Fortune 1000 advertisers and recruiters, the country’s top universities and graduate schools.

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Media Contact:
Laura Gordon
lgordon@vault.com
646-792-6344
 
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