And in this context, and as a starting signal for this 2022 that we have just started, I want to celebrate with all of you some milestones that we have recently achieved, and that are a sign that we are doing things well and in that direction: the good results achieved for the fifth consecutive year in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index 2021; the adhesion to the new Ibex Gender Equality Index; and the refinancing of our main syndicated loan of 5,500 million euros with sustainable criteria to continue supporting projects with social and environmental impact over the coming years. I explain in this post all the details of these achievements.
We consolidated our position in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index
As you know, this index measures the commitment, practices and policies related to gender equality in participating companies. Having significantly improved our score over the previous year is an important recognition of our commitment and responsibility to inclusion and diversity. And we are very proud of it. Facilitating personal and professional development, both within the company and in the societies in which we operate, is our purpose, and this index is an indicator that we are achieving it.
To explain it with data, Bloomberg especially highlights our progress in parity, recognizing the efforts made to reduce the pay gap, the exhaustive diagnostic and monitoring models, and the company’s future goals, such as eliminating the adjusted pay gap (between employees in the same job) by 2024, and the gross pay gap (between all employees in the company) by 2050.
We have recently updated our Diversity and Inclusion Policy, favoring and promoting flexible work, as well as implementing training programs for both employees and managers on unconscious bias.
Telefónica’s commitment to gender equality goes back a long way; in fact, the number of women in management positions in the group now stands at 30.4%. And in this sense, we promote the professional career of female talent in management positions through initiatives such as Women in Leadership, a program to accelerate the professional career and increase the visibility of female employees; and we develop and support more than 50 initiatives that seek to bring STEM to female talent, as is the case, among others, of Mujeres Hacker, Mujer e Ingeniería or #SheTransformsIT.
Additionally, as a result of this commitment, we have subscribed in several of our operations to the Women’s Empowerment Principles, promoted by the United Nations Global Compact; and we have also joined ClosinGap, a group of companies committed to promoting the closing of gender gaps through digitalization.
We are part of the new Ibex Gender Equality Index
This milestone is particularly important. With our incorporation, we are now 33 listed companies recognized by Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) for the presence of women in their senior management and board of directors. In order to be included in the index, companies must have at least 25% women on their board of directors and at least 15% women in senior management.
n the case of Telefónica, we have met both requirements and, in addition, in 2021 we have managed to increase the percentage of women on our Board to 33.3%, bringing the number of women in management positions within the group to 30.4%, as mentioned above.
This report is the first of its kind for the Spanish market and involves creating a portfolio of listed securities in which we can invest according to gender equality criteria, which we consider to be of particular interest.
We refinanced our main syndicated loan with sustainable criteria
We refinanced our syndicated loan to continue supporting social projects, especially those related to increasing the percentage of women in management positions.
Thank you very much to all of you for continuing to trust in our purpose of advancing in the field of diversity, inclusion and sustainability. We continue to work to transform ourselves and improve the society in which we live. Diversity in our teams allows us to do incredible things, to grow as a company and as a society, and in that direction we continue to walk with a firm step.
