Principal Financial Group 2023 Sustainability Report: Growth in Diversity
Inclusion in the workplace
Originally published in Principal Financial Group 2023 Sustainability Report
Inclusion in the workplace: Growth in diversity
We are committed to attracting and retaining a workforce with broad perspectives that is well-positioned to serve the diverse needs of our customers.
To measure progress against our strategy and ensure equal employment opportunity, we track representation within our U.S. employee population with an aspiration of aligning to market availability. To determine availability benchmarks, as a federal contractor we reference the Census EEO Tabulation created by the U.S. Census Bureau, OFCCP, and other agencies, which provides a single resource for statistical demographic data by location.
We track and report representation within our U.S. employee population to ensure fair and equitable treatment for all. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made and understand this is a journey.
In 2023, we made additional progress against availability benchmarks:
- Increased the number of women in leadership positions to 41.0%, compared to availability benchmarks of 43%.
- Increased the number of people of color in leadership positions to 10.1%, compared to availability benchmarks of 13%.
- Increased the number of people of color in non-leadership positions to 18.1%, compared to availability benchmarks of 19%.
- Increased the number of persons with disabilities to 5.0%, compared to availability benchmarks of 7.0%.
- Increased the number of veterans to 3.2%, compared to availability benchmarks of 5.5%.
Our goal1 is to achieve and sustain availability benchmarks. Considering external and internal historical trends, we’re on track to achieve availability benchmarks which are our goals by 2026.
Within our leadership bands, people of color in senior management positions increased to 23%, up from 18% in 2022. Additionally, people of color in management positions increased to nearly 8%, up from 7% in 2022. In our total U.S. workforce, we’ve seen a 4.2% increase of people of color, from 15.6% in 2022 to 16.3% in 2023. Additionally, in 2023 persons with disabilities made up approximately 5% of our U.S. workforce, up from 4.5% in 2022, and veterans made up approximately 3.2%, up from 3.1% in 2022.
Global representation We continue to track and report gender representation across our global workforce. In 2023, women made up 54% of our global workforce, 30% of our IT department, and 26% of our engineering workforce. In the U.S., approximately 61% of employees promoted in 2023 were women, up from 56% in 2022. Globally, our workforce spans five generations. The average age of our global workforce is 42.
- 11% growth of persons with disabilities in our U.S. workforce from 2022 to 2023
- 23% people of color in senior management positions in the U.S. in 2023
- 3% growth of veterans from in our U.S. workforce from 2022 to 2023
- 54% women across our global workforce in 2023
We continue to track and report demographic information for our U.S. and global workforce, where available and aim to add other dimensions of diversity as we enhance system capabilities. This allows us to continue making progress toward our diversity goals.
- Scored 100 out of 100 on the Disability Equality Index (DEI) for our disability inclusion efforts
Disability:IN (July 2023) - Recognized as a 2024 Military Friendly Employer
Military Friendly (November 2023) - Recognized as one of 2024 Best Places to Work in IT for the 22nd consecutive year
Computerworld (November 2023)
Global employee representation by gender and employment category2
Job Category: Executives
- Female: 5; 38%
- Male: 8; 62%
Job Category: Senior Management
- Female: 4; 29%
- Male: 10; 71%
Job Category: Management
- Female: 1,313; 47%
- Male: 1,500; 53%
Job Category: Professionals and administrators
- Female: 9,321; 55%
- Male: 7,668; 45%
Total Workforce
- Female: 10,643; 54%
- Male: 9,186; 46%
Recognized as one of The Best Employers for Women 2023
Forbes (July 2023)
Named a 50 Out Front: Best Place to Work for Women and Diverse Managers Diversity MBA (July 2023)
Inclusion in the workplace: Pay equity
One of the guiding principles of our global pay philosophy is to be market driven. This means that total pay is set and administered in alignment with the external labor markets in which we compete for talent. We use third- party market data to help ensure base salary and incentives are appropriately aligned. We obtain this data through our annual participation in salary surveys administered by unaffiliated consulting firms. Employees receive an annual compensation statement that explains the components of their pay and how their performance influences the awards they receive.
Pay equity is central to our compensation practices and policies. We conduct an annual global pay audit with a credible third-party to identify unexplained differences in pay between employees doing similar work in commensurate positions. On a global level, our pay audit includes a gender pay gap assessment, and in the U.S., our pay audit includes both a gender and a racial pay gap assessment. While we do not currently disclose the specific results of our pay audit, we continue to be proud of our gender and racial pay equity performance, which support that our pay aligns with our stated non- discriminatory compensation philosophies.
To promote pay transparency, we continue to post the minimum and maximum salary ranges for all open positions in the U.S.—both internally and externally. We believe that disclosing the salary range for all U.S.-based open positions is not only crucial to giving individuals more agency—especially women and people of color—but it’s also a necessary step to reducing pay disparities, creating a fair application and recruitment process, and finding highly qualified candidates. As of December 31, 2023, the ratio of the annual total compensation of the CEO to the annual total compensation of the median employee was 194:1.
Read more about our employment policies and global pay philosophy
To learn more, read the Principal Financial Group 2023 Sustainability Report.
Additional information on our commitments to advance inclusion, representation, accessibility, and equity within our workplace, business practices, and communities can be found in the 2023 Global Inclusion Report.
1Goals are subject to change as/if availability benchmarks change. Goals are currently established for Principal Financial Group U.S. workforce only.
2Includes 15 individuals who did not report their gender. Figures presented here include our global workforce.
Insurance products issued by Principal National Life Insurance Co (except in NY) and Principal Life Insurance Company®. Plan administrative services offered by Principal Life. Principal Funds, Inc. is distributed by Principal Funds Distributor, Inc. Securities offered through Principal Securities, Inc., member SIPC and/or independent broker/dealers. Referenced companies are members of the Principal Financial Group®, Des Moines, IA 50392.
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