Diversity is more than just a corporate buzzword, it’s a business strategy and guiding principle for companies that seek to live their mission and values every day.
A diverse and inclusive workforce brings new and varying perspectives and ideas that drive creativity, innovation and, ultimately, revenue. Building a work environment that values and celebrates its employees also helps with retention and contributes to a positive company culture that pushes everyone to do their best work.
Marissa Andrada, a human resources professional who worked at companies like Chipotle, Kate Spade and Red Bull, said a diverse and inclusive workplace celebrates everybody and creates a place where people can thrive.
“When people feel free to voice their opinion or bring their ideas into the work that they’re doing on your teams, it drives more diverse and innovative outcomes,” she told Newsweek in an interview.
Andrada said that among successful companies, there is always a pillar in the strategy that focuses on investing in people, from customers to front-line employees.
To celebrate and highlight some of the top companies in the U.S. living this mission, Newsweek has compiled its third-annual ranking of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity. This list includes 1,500 companies of various sizes including Cushman & Wakefield, Johns Hopkins Medicine, NYU Langone Health, UPS, Tiffany & Co., Intel and H&R Block.
In recent months, companies like Walmart and Toyota announced plans to roll back their DEI policies. But not every company is backing down from their efforts to increase representation in the workplace.
A recent study from talent services firm Seramount found that 80 percent of companies are maintaining their DEI efforts, with 10 percent promising to double down on their efforts. A majority of U.S. employees also continue to value an inclusive workplace, according to the Seramount study.
Dani Herrera is a talent and DEI consultant with about 18 years of experience in talent operations, recruitment strategy, diversity, and inclusion and leadership. She told Newsweek in an interview that meeting diversity goals starts with creating an equitable environment that can attract and retain new talent.
“We tend to forget about the equity, the inclusion and the accessibility piece, and that is like the meat on the bone, and that’s what will attract the diverse talent and clients [companies] want,” she said.
This is especially true for Gen Z and millennial job seekers. Generation Z is the most diverse generation in U.S. history and will make up more than a quarter of the workforce in 2025, according to the World Economic Forum.
The Seramount study found that over 80 percent of Gen Z job seekers said a company’s DEI commitments are an important factor when considering where to work.
Herrera adds that companies that are more diverse, inclusive and equitable tend to outperform companies that are not in terms of revenue and profitability because they are more innovative and better understand the customers and clients they serve.
But diversity does not only benefit minorities in the workplace. Many corporate DEI policies, like PTO, bereavement leave and parental leave, benefit everyone.
“DEI fights to make things equitable and inclusive for every single person,” Herrera said. “It’s not just about focusing on hiring more diverse talent, which companies 100 percent should. But there is a lot more that DEI does for every single person [in the workforce].”
The companies featured on Newsweek‘s ranking understand the impact diversity, equity and inclusion policies have on both business strategy and workplace culture.
To determine the America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity list, Newsweek worked with data partner Plant-A to conduct over 403,000 employee interviews and nearly 5 million company reviews. The ranking is one of the largest independent employee studies in the U.S., according to Plant-A.
The ranking also includes a recommendation score for each company based on 10 main categories that target groups including women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, veterans, people with disabilities, single parents and various ethnic groups.
Companies were evaluated based on employee mental well-being, sustainability, job security, work-life balance, company image, corporate culture, job training and career progression, compensation and benefits, and proactive management of a diverse workforce.
More in-depth company research also analyzed other KPIs that contribute to an inclusive and diverse workforce. Management team diversity ratios, publication of diversity reports, DEI initiatives and social media reviews were all taken into account. Only companies with a rating of four, four and a half, and five stars were included on the ranking.
Employers found to have been engaging in unfair workplace practices or those with reported workplace harassment or pervasive public workplace conditions lawsuits within the last two years were excluded from the final list.
Several companies debuted on the most recent America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity list at five stars, including Lenovo, Pinterest, Cleveland Clinic and Instacart.
Additionally, several companies have improved their rating from the previous ranking, including American Airlines, Bath & Body Works, Costco, Footlocker, HP, Nordstrom and Netflix.
These and other companies on Newsweek‘s list are not only maintaining their DEI programs but are ramping up their efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
Indeed
Indeed is a company that was built to help people find the right job and help companies find the best talent. So it’s no surprise that diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are top priorities at the company.
According to Indeed’s own findings, belonging and inclusion were two of the top factors that impacted employee well-being around the world in 2024.
Jessica Hardeman, Indeed’s senior director of attraction and engagement, told Newsweek in an interview that diversity policies ensure that every employee has the most inclusive, equitable experience possible, “from their first interaction with us to their last.”
“We’re really looking to embed DEIB [diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging] into every aspect of what we do, and that starts with our mission to help all people get jobs” she said. “It shines through [in] how we integrate it into our roles and what we do every day for each and every person at Indeed.”
The company has several DEIB policies that have helped make it one of the highest-rated companies on Newsweek‘s diversity ranking for three years in a row.
A few years ago, Indeed launched the Inclusive Interview Rule to eliminate bias in the recruiting process and improve the representation in the candidate pipeline. When it was originally enacted in 2021, the rule applied to all U.S. roles at the director level and above. In 2023, Indeed expanded the Inclusive Interview Rule to all roles globally.
Hardeman said the policy has increased the diversity pool of interview candidates and pushed Indeed to be more intentional about sourcing for candidates.
Indeed has also recently launched the pilot for its internal apprenticeship program, which invests resources and time into existing talent and trains employees in the skills necessary to move into more technical roles within the company. You can read more about Indeed’s BOOST Apprenticeship here.
The post Workplace Diversity Ranking Highlights Companies That Invest in People appeared first on Newsweek.
