Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
DEI at MetLife is a critical component of our business and a driving force for innovation. Inclusive behaviors foster collaboration, enhance team performance and expand the breadth of ideas available for effective problem solving. With enhanced internal belonging, we can deliver better solutions for our customers and, in return, better outcomes for our shareholders and communities.
MetLife helps create a culture of trust and inclusion by facilitating honest conversations. Our podcast, Inclusion Begins with Me: Conversations that Matter, hosted by our Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Dr. Cindy Pace, examines the role colleagues play in creating inclusive workplaces that are built for the future. The podcast encourages important conversations with our colleagues, customers, business partners and communities. According to Apple podcast charts, Inclusion Begins with Me is a top global performer in the business and management categories in 33 markets.
Workforce Diversity
We are committed to being transparent about our progress and accountable for our results as we aspire to become a global employer of choice. We measure ourselves against industry benchmarks and are aiming for top-quartile performance across ethnically and racially diverse groups in the U.S. and top-quartile performance in our female officer1 population globally. Our workforce data and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-1 reporting provide more detail on our top-quartile progress.
Closing the Gender Gap
MetLife continues to support the development of our global women leaders. At MetLife, women comprise:
- 36% of the MetLife Inc. Board of Directors ( 2022: 38%)
- 53% of our global workforce (2022: 53%)
- 30% of our Executive Leadership Team (2022: 25%)
- 43% of our managers (2022: 42%)
- 44% of our strategic advisory group5 (2022: 48%)
Through MetLife’s Gender Equity Initiative, we offer leadership development and a variety of career support programs, including peer-mentoring groups, workplace policies and benefits that support work-life integration.
Our fifth annual Triangle Tech X (TTX) Conference theme—“The Humanity Imperative: Achieving STEM Equity in the AI Age”—examined the role of AI in bridging the STEM equity gap. Registered attendees at TTX 2023 increased 39% compared with 2022.
TTX has also expanded its online community into an ongoing virtual speaker series available to the public—named TTX Talks—that spotlights women making significant contributions to STEM. MetLife has also launched the TTX LinkedIn Community, a platform that promotes the advancement of women in STEM, connects professionals in STEM fields, and shares the latest trends and news from inspiring thought leaders.
Two of MetLife’s senior female leaders are members of the CEO Club of consulting firm Bain’s Stratos Academy, a program for senior women leaders’ development in the financial industry. Stratos Academy is available to MetLife women at the vice president level and above in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa to prepare them for CEO-level leadership by expanding their networks, spearheading thought leadership and advancing their development via in-person and virtual training and events.
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Through networking events, such as our annual Women in Sales summits, thought leadership and training, MetLife offers women tools to grow and be successful in our industry and business generally.
MetLife Japan colleagues participate in a Women in Sales event
MetLife sponsors and participates in the Global Summit of Women and is committed to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and the UN Global Compact’s gender equality accelerator program, Target Gender Equality. MetLife Chile and Chile ProVida are signatories to the Gender Parity Initiative, a public-private partnership aimed at closing the economic gender gap.
Advancing Inclusion Through Partnerships and Sponsorships
MetLife understands that our success can be bolstered by the expertise of external stakeholders. We host an external roundtable of experts in racial equity and inclusion-related business disciplines, academia and philanthropy. Named ADVANCE, the roundtable has helped us understand MetLife’s role in closing the racial wealth gap.
MetLife also participates in partner studies to shape understanding of DEI in the workplace globally. We contributed employment data to McKinsey’s Race in the Workplace study, which examined the experience of Asian, Black and Latino frontline workers—a segment of the workforce that has historically been disconnected from advancement opportunities. We also shared data for LeanIn.org and McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace study, the largest study of women in corporate America. Our data contribution to Coqual helped develop its Black Equity Index, an initiative for organizations to advance and measure progress toward a more inclusive workplace.
