Reaching gender balance
We continue to progress towards gender parity at all levels of the organization.
We are ensuring that everyone working for AXA is equitably remunerated across the organization and ensure pay is consistent and free from discrimination, and not related to irrelevant personal factors such as age, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, marital status, or disability. We are also going beyond regulatory requirements by annually monitoring and voluntarily disclosing our Gender Pay Gap.
A Gender Pay Gap (also referred to as the Unadjusted Pay Gap) is a broad measure that compares the average pay of all the women in the organization versus the average pay of all the men in the same organization, regardless of their role, seniority, level or locations. The results mainly reflect organizational structures, and highlight the need on how to strengthen our gender balance to reach gender parity through the roll out of relevant initiatives and goals (e.g. through the development and implementation of I&D plans in terms of recruitment, promotions, talent pipeline, career management across AXA). The current Group Gender Gap on fixed remuneration is assessed at 24% (23% in median)*.
To further address the Gender Pay Gap, AXA committed to work towards gender parity among Global Leadership Network (GLN-our top 250 leaders) and put in place a number of initiatives to achieve this ambition:
We are requiring gender equality in recruitment processes. For each senior position (Global Leadership Network, aka GLN), they will now be at least one man and one woman among the shortlisted applicants.
For stronger accountability, Diversity in teams, and in particular, gender balance, is now a shared goal for AXA’s Entities’ CEOs.
Local targets for women representation at executive committee and executive level have also been defined.
AXA is also monitoring its Adjusted Pay Gap, which is a comparison between the average pay of the women vs that of the men after accounting for a selected set of professional characteristics of which job families, locations and grades. The Adjusted Pay Gap is thus a finer calculation than the Unadjusted Pay Gap as it factors some of the characteristics for which pay varies - at AXA the Global Adjusted Pay Gap on total compensation is currently assessed at 2%.
Finally, AXA ensures employees’ remuneration is fair and competitive, with regular Fair Pay monitoring. Fair Pay is the difference between the pay of two employees carrying out the same role and for which pay is consistent and free from discrimination or irrelevant personal factors such as age, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, marital status, or disability. Many of our entities have progressed towards or reached pay equity. AXA is committed to removing all unjustified pay gaps, whereby entities are annually monitoring and addressing it with dedicated budgets where need be, to keep on achieving full pay equity across all geographies. Furthermore, standards and processes are strengthened to ensure gaps are not created in the future.
* The current Group Gender Gap on total compensation is assessed at 30% (26% in median).
We are committed to the development of talent at all levels. For almost a decade, we have supported women's career development through group sponsorship programs which have been replicated across our entities, some with a specific focus on increasing the representation of women in sales and distribution sectors. In 2020, we launched a new and innovative career management program to prepare leaders for their next career experience including future GLN positions. These leaders are from diverse backgrounds and nationalities as well as different business areas and markets. In addition to building a strong foundation through assessments and development centers, each leader participating in the program is sponsored by a Group Management Committee member or a Partner. These leaders also participate in AXA’s annual “Thrive” initiative mentoring talented women from across the group to coincide with International Women’s Day. This initiative inspires entities around the world to create more mentoring opportunities of their own.
Our employee-led networks celebrate our inclusive culture where every perspective can thrive. Each network covers different aspects of diversity, and are open for all employees to join. Gender is not just a women’s issue; it’s a people issue which affects us all. Our gender-focused networks support women to build their professional connections and further their careers. They also provide an opportunity for employees to participate in discussions about gender issues and to empower themselves through their actions to contribute to progress.
Additionally, global inclusion campaigns and events throughout each year serve as a platform to learn from our peers and have an open discourse about differences in the workplace.
Karima Silvent
Group Chief Human Resources Officer
We have made significant progress these past years in terms of having more women in senior executive positions. We moved from 9% of women in senior executive positions in 2009 to 24% in 2016, and to 40% in December 2023. We continue to aim at reaching gender parity.
As part of the Group’s business strategy from “Payer-to-Partner”, a specific initiative "Women in Insurance" has been launched in September 2016 globally to reach to the immense women market segment for insurance, offering value-added solutions, with a strong focus on prevention and well-being.
In January 2023, AXA was included for the sixth time in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI) among 418 companies from 11 sectors in 45 countries and regions. The GEI tracks the financial performance of public companies committed to supporting gender equality through policy development, representation, and transparency across five pillars: female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand. Participating in the data submission process demonstrates our commitment to transparency in gender reporting and to advancing gender equality across AXA.