Manufacturers including General Electric and Unilever have been named on a list of the top 50 employers in the UK for women.
In the annual list published today by The Times in partnership with workplace gender equality campaign Opportunity Now, the two companies feature alongside PepsiCo, Diageo and Proctor & Gamble.
Logistics firm DHL and engineering consultancy Arup also make the top 50, which is compiled based on criteria ranging from leadership, organisational target setting and changing workplace culture.
But missing from this year’s list are 2013 entries BAE Systems and AstraZeneca, who drop out along with other big names such as Google, McDonalds and Deloitte.
Campaign group Women in Manufacturing told TM it was pleased to see a good representation of manufacturing and engineering companies make the list.
“Gender diversity within the manufacturing workplace is key – we need to ensure manufacturers have the broad mix of skills and experiences within their workforce in order to face future challenges in the sector and for UK manufacturers to continue to compete globally,” a spokesperson said.
“We would also like to see a broader representation of manufacturing sectors in the list and to see some new ‘faces’ embracing the diversity challenge.”
The list arrives just nine days after it was revealed women in boardroom positions across the UK has risen by 3.4% in the past year.
Three years on from Lord Davies of Abersoch’s 2011 review into the matter, the third annual Women on Boards report shows women now account for 20.7% of board positions in the FTSE100, up from 17.3% in April 2013.
