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Diversity, equity and inclusion are key to finding the talents shipping needs to deal with digitalisation and decarbonisation, writes WISTA International.
As the maritime industry embraces digitalization and strives to meet its decarbonization objectives, fostering diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is essential to ensure success.
A diverse workforce brings a range of perspectives to the table, at a time when attracting new talent will be critical for an industry demanding both innovation and long-term commitment to deal with a multitude of complex challenges.
However, recent shifts in corporate and political landscapes threaten progress on DEI, with shipping far from immune, says WISTA International.
Shortly after his inauguration as US President, Donald Trump signed two executive orders that directly affected DEI policies within the federal government. One reverses efforts by the previous administration to expand DEI programs, while the other bans DEI measures from being taken altogether.
Meanwhile, citing a 2024 US supreme court ruling banning affirmative action in college admissions, McDonalds discontinued some of its DEI policies in January. Other US corporates have also made their moves: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerbergrecentlyended the technology giant’s commitments to DEI, while GM, Pepsi and Amazon have removed some—or all—references to DEI from their annual reports.
But some of the world’s most powerful CEOs have reiterated their commitment to DEI, including JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman and Alexandr Wang of Scale AI. Meanwhile Costco shareholders voted against a proposal to end its efforts.
Furthermore, studies like that done by IT consulting firm HCMoneyball point firmly towards DEI as a driver for stronger financial performance that helps businesses attract and retain top talent.
The tenth Women in the Workplace report conducted by McKinsey & Company showed women still make up a less than 29% of C-suite positions in the US, from 17% in 2015. Women also continue to face barriers at the point of entry, where they remain less likely than men to be hired overall, leaving them underrepresented from the start. Once in place, women are also far less likely to get promoted to a management role.
Compared to corporate America, the imbalance is even more pronounced across the maritime world, where the WISTA International Women in Maritime Survey 2021 showed that women made up just 29% of the overall workforce. Focusing in on seafarers, women’s share of personnel numbers represents a mere 2%.
For a shipping industry behind the curve on equality yet competing with other sectors for the brightest and best to push forward with digitalisation and decarbonisation, attracting skills and talents from the entire pool of potential candidates is critical.
International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez has vowed that the IMO will focus on enhancing support provided to seafarers to deal with decarbonisation, diversity and criminalisation in 2025,
“We have made progress, particularly when it comes to gender in the maritime sector, but the reality is that there is more to come,” he said, adding that he would remain firm on his commitment.
“Now is not the time to turn back when we are just making significant progress in these areas,” says Elpi Petraki, President WISTA International. “DEI has been shown to offer a competitive advantage that shipping companies should not ignore. It is crucial for attracting the diverse talents we need to foster innovation in dealing with the big issues we as an industry face today.”
Research shows that women are surpassing men in college results through hard work and aptitude – the very qualities that companies want and need, she adds. Policies that make employees feel valued and included only help companies retain the skilled and intelligent staff that they increasingly need.
McKinsey’s report concluded that at rates of change before the growing roll back, it would take 48 years for women of all colours to reflect their share of the US population in senior company leadership.
WISTA’s Petraki argues that the problems faced by shipping companies have not been caused by DEI, but the lack of it. She adds that organisations which are accountable to shareholders may be using anti-DEI rhetoric to disguise their poor performance for other reasons, when the reality is that DEI enhances profitability.
Social change can often lead to a backlash, adds Petraki, but backing down in the face of an assault of DEI threatens to undermine the work done to make a global industry more progressive and attractive to all of the available talent.
“Blaming progressive policies for the problems faced by people, companies and the world will do nothing to remedy the real issues we all face in shipping,” adds Petraki. “Change is not easy, and nor is it inevitable. But recent developments confirm it remains essential.”
The post Backward steps on DEI will damage determination to deal with shipping’s pressing issues appeared first on Energy News Beat.
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