The Hershey Co. has been ranked #1 on Forbes' list of the "World's Top Female Friendly Companies." 

Being recognized by Forbes confirms Hershey's longstanding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, believing DEI is mission critical to the company's long-term success.

"Guided by The Pathways Project, we continue to advance progress around gender equity – a core component of our greater DEI strategy," said Alicia Petross, chief diversity officer of The Hershey Co. "At Hershey, we are more than female friendly – we are female forward. From internal initiatives--such as pay equity--our hiring and development strategy and women's business resource group, to external initiatives, such as the International Women's Day HerSHEy's bar and our ongoing community engagement efforts to support all youth, this recognition is a testament to our continued commitment to gender equity across our organization."

In 2020, Hershey co-created The Pathways Project with employees to catalyze courageous conversations, propel progress, and put rigorous DEI goals in place – with gender equity playing a critical role. This recognition comes after the company's 2020 milestone of achieving a dollar-for-dollar aggregate pay equity for both salaried women and people of color in the US.

In addition to pay equity, Hershey has made several other notable outcomes to support women including the formation of a women's business resource group, the expansion of family-focused benefits like fertility benefits and paid paternity leave, and the establishment of career development programs for underrepresented groups. As reported in Hershey's 2020 sustainability report, the company has 48.1% gender diversity around the world, 37.4% of people leaders globally are women, and the board of directors has 42% gender diversity.

By 2025, The Pathways Project plans to achieve aggregate dollar-for-dollar pay equity for salaried employees worldwide and seeks to increase representation of Hershey's employee base so that 47-50% of employees are women and 30-40% are people of color. Similarly, the company aspires to have 15-22% people leader roles occupied by people of color and 40-42% by women.

Methodology

To compile the list, Statista surveyed 85,000 women in 40 countries. All surveys were anonymous, allowing participants to openly share their opinions. Respondents were asked to rate their employers' performance on gender-related criteria and their willingness to recommend their employer to others. They were also asked to evaluate other employers in their respective industries. Statista also asked respondents to rate companies based on their corporate responsibility, marketing campaigns, and public perception, as related to gender equality. The final list ranks the 300 companies that received the most recommendations and boast the most gender diverse boards and executive ranks.