Women to account for half of workforce by 2025

BHP BILLITON wants women to account for half of its work force by 2025 as the world’s top mining house seeks to change the gender balance in an industry dominated by men. The company was not “as inclusive or diverse as we could be”, chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said yesterday. BHP has a workforce of about 65 000, including contractors, of which 18 percent are female. Based on these numbers, its target will mean an additional 21 000 women employed by the middle of the next decade, including both its own staff and contractors, according to Bloomberg calculations. The $800 billion (R11 trillion) mining industry has long been a male-dominated business, with women even banned from working underground in some countries until recently. Men hold a majority of executive positions in resources companies. Female directors accounted for only 10.9 percent of producers’ boards on average in 2014, compared with more than 15 percent in consumer goods and services, according to a study by Women in Mining UK and PwC. “Without new initiatives, it would take us 30 years just to get to 30 percent female representation,” BHP’s Mackenzie said. “More must, and will, be done. And our 2025 aspirational goal is to achieve gender balance at all levels of the organisation over the next decade.” Out of BHP’s direct workforce of 27 000, women account for 18 percent. The company says it will encourage contractors to mirror the same balance. – Bloomberg