Wednesday, 18 March 2020 11:18

Landmark gender equality study needs meat business participants

Written by Staff Reporters

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Laura Ryan, chair of Meat Business Women.

New Zealand meat businesses are being asked to contribute to a global study on gender equality.

The study aims to create robust data on women in the meat industry for the first time and identify strategies for making the sector more inclusive.

Global networking group, Meat Business Women has launched a survey seeking data on the number of women employed at different organisational levels, their level of pay, and their potential barriers to career progression.

The findings will be published in a major new report on gender representation in the meat industry, to be unveiled at World Meat Congress on 12 June 2020.

Meat businesses from the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and the US will be contributing to the report.

“We have long been frustrated by the lack of reliable data on women in the meat industry,” says Laura Ryan, chair of Meat Business Women.

“By taking part in our survey, businesses will help create much-needed clarity on the contribution women make across the supply chain – and, importantly, where action is needed to improve representation.

“We are calling on everyone in the meat industry to get involved and contribute to this important piece of work, to help make our sector more sustainable and profitable.”

The survey will run to 3 April and is open to companies from across the supply chain, including meat processors, packers, retailers, wholesalers and independent butchers.

Before going through the survey, it is recommended respondents have the following data to hand:

The number of men and women at different levels in the organisation
The % of women in each pay quartile
The average age of women at different levels
Estimated staff turnover

“For the meat industry to remain successful in a tough market, it needs to attract the best talent and make the most of existing talent within its organisations.

“By submitting data for our state-of-the-nation report, businesses can play a vital role in identifying ‘glass ceilings’ and ‘broken rungs’, so we can remove barriers to gender equality together and set the meat industry up for long-term success.”

Businesses can submit their responses here: http://bit.ly/Meatbusinesswomen

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