Deloitte Australia CEO Argues Gender Diversity Must Be a Priority

By Kalen Smith, Big4 Blogger

Giam Swiegers, CEO of Deloitte Australia, said that Deloitte and other countries throughout the country need to reassess how they promote gender diversity in the workforce. Swiegers said that many firms discuss gender diversity in marketing literature and recruitment efforts. However, their initiatives haven’t been enough to earn the loyalty of talented female employees.

Swiegers said that many female employees have stopped working for Deloitte because the firm took the wrong measures to cater to their needs. He said that Deloitte has used many outdated strategies to promote gender equality and diversity in the past. Deloitte’s original gender diversity program was discontinued nearly a decade ago.

As late as the beginning of the century, women accounted for half of Deloitte’s new hires, but less than 4% of the firm’s partners. However, Swiegers said that the firm has completely redefined its diversity program in the past 8 years. As a result, women have more opportunities to succeed at Deloitte. More than a third of all Deloitte partners are now women.

However, Swieger said that the battle to gain more talented female staff will be difficult. Deloitte will need to continually update its approach to gender diversity as it becomes increasingly difficult to compete for the best employees in the global labor market.