Creating an environment of diversity and inclusion is essential for businesses that want to remain successful in today’s competitive market. Fortunately, more and more companies recognize the importance of fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. These ten companies stand out for their commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion through offering employee perks such as adoption and surrogacy benefits. Read on to find out which companies are taking the lead in making diversity and inclusion a priority.
1. Google
Google is a leader in prioritizing diversity and inclusion, taking several steps to help create a more equitable workplace. The company has made strides in increasing the representation of women and people of color in their workforce. They also offer a wide range of benefits for parents, including generous maternity and paternity leave, adoption assistance, and egg donation for their employees.
Google has a number of employee resource groups, including the Gayglers network, which supports the LGBTQ+ community, and the Black Googler Network, which focuses on promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Google also focuses on providing mentoring opportunities for members of underrepresented groups and encourages female employees to take on leadership roles in order to create a more diverse company culture. To ensure a respectful and inclusive environment, Google holds seminars on unconscious bias and offers various online resources that can help educate employees about inclusivity.
2. Apple
Apple has long been committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. In addition to their ongoing initiatives, such as expanding their employee resource groups and fostering more inclusive hiring practices, Apple has taken several important steps toward building a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Apple is one of the first major U.S. corporations to offer full coverage for egg freezing and adoption benefits. These benefits are extended to all employees regardless of gender.
Additionally, Apple has launched a variety of programs and initiatives to increase diversity and inclusion within its ranks. This includes creating employee resource groups and focusing on recruiting, hiring, and promoting diverse talent at all levels. Apple also has pledged to spend $100 million over the next decade to increase the number of Black software engineers, developers, entrepreneurs, and other tech workers within its ranks.
Apple has a number of employee resource groups, including the Pride@Apple network, which supports the LGBTQ+ community, and the Black@Apple network, which focuses on promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
By taking these steps, Apple is making great strides toward creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace. With their commitment to providing inclusive family-building benefits for all employees and initiatives to foster diversity and inclusion, Apple is showing that it is serious about making meaningful change.
3. Amazon
Amazon has been a leader in diversity and inclusion for many years, most notably for its commitment to gender equality. They recently implemented a number of new initiatives to further prioritize diversity and inclusion, such as the launch of their Amazon Women in Innovation program, which offers grants to innovative female-led businesses.
Since 2019, Amazon has been offering fertility benefits to all employees. Amazon also offers adoption assistance for qualified domestic and international adoption expenses, including attorney fees, court costs, and travel.
In 2021, Amazon earned a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index for the fifth year in a row, ranking it among the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”
Amazon has 12 affinity groups that are responsible for leading community-building, mentorship, and programs aimed at promoting customer inclusion and supporting the development of an inclusive culture. Glamazon chapters worldwide join in Pride festivities annually and were instrumental in developing Amazon’s Transgender Toolkit in 2018. Affinity groups also coordinate classes and activities to observe Asian Pacific-American Heritage Month, Black History Month, and Hispanic Heritage Month.
4. Facebook
Facebook has been actively making progress in their diversity and inclusion initiatives since 2016. They have established an internal employee resource group for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and people of color employees, as well as a team dedicated to disability and accessibility.
Facebook reportedly offers $20,000 for surrogacy benefits. They also provide benefits for transgender employees, including gender-affirming health care coverage and gender-neutral bathrooms in their offices. Furthermore, the company works to increase representation from underrepresented backgrounds through recruiting efforts and internships.
5. Microsoft
Microsoft has long been a leader in promoting diversity and inclusion, particularly within its own workforce. From offering gender transition support to transgender individuals to committing to hiring more women and underrepresented minorities, Microsoft has been at the forefront of D&I initiatives for years.
In 2019, Microsoft revamped its fertility benefits plan to include programs that are more inclusive, supportive and effective for employee fertility, including the LGBTQ community. Microsoft offers surrogacy and adoption benefits, so employees who want to become parents can do so without having to worry about the financial burden. This is just one of many ways that Microsoft is showing its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Microsoft also offers many networks of support help people of diverse backgrounds accelerate their careers in technical roles. Diversity and Tech Community and TechRoots engage technology professionals of color. Codess and Women Think Next support women in coding and engineering. Microsoft for Startups provides entrepreneurs with access to technology and new community spaces that promote collaboration.
With all these initiatives, it’s clear that Microsoft is taking its commitment to diversity and inclusion seriously and wants to create an environment where everyone is welcome.
6. Salesforce
Salesforce is a cloud computing company that is passionate about diversity and inclusion. The company’s Chief People Officer, Brent Hyder, has made it his mission to build a workplace culture that is welcoming to all, regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation.
Salesforce is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce and has implemented several programs and initiatives to support this goal. These include unconscious bias training, employee resource groups (ERGs) for underrepresented communities, and the use of data and analytics to identify and address areas of inequality.
Salesforce has been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and has established many initiatives and partnerships to advance this cause. These include the Salesforce Equality Awards, which recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to advancing equality for the LGBTQ+ community, and the Outforce employee resource group, which provides support for LGBTQ+ employees and partners with external organizations to advance LGBTQ+ rights.
Salesforce also provides inclusive healthcare coverage for transgender, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary employees, as well as fertility, surrogacy and adoption, parental leave, gender affirmation surgery options, and more. The company even provides paternity leave to new fathers so they can spend more time with their families.
All of these initiatives demonstrate Salesforce’s commitment to creating an inclusive workplace where all employees are respected and valued.
7. Intel
Intel is committed to diversity and inclusion, and the company has implemented several initiatives to promote a more inclusive workplace. In 2015, the company launched an aggressive investment in diversity, which included focusing on its LGBTQ and minority employees.
As part of its comprehensive health and wellness benefits program, Intel offers transgender benefits designed to support employees who are undergoing gender transition or who identify as transgender. By offering comprehensive benefits for gender confirmation and fertility treatments, the company is helping to ensure that all employees have access to the care they need, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
The company also offers fertility benefits and surrogacy and adoption benefits for all employees, including same-sex couples. This program especially benefits the LGBTQ community, as they often face additional challenges when starting a family. For same-sex male couples, surrogacy can be a viable option for having biological children, but it can be expensive and complicated to navigate. Adoption can also be a lengthy and costly process, and many agencies may discriminate against LGBTQ couples.
By offering surrogacy and adoption benefits to all employees, Intel is helping to level the playing field and make it easier for LGBTQ employees to start or expand their families. These benefits demonstrate the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as its recognition of the unique challenges that the LGBTQ community faces when it comes to family planning.
8. Uber
Uber has long been committed to diversity and inclusion in its hiring and business practices.
Uber’s family planning benefits include in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg freezing, donor sperm or eggs, and intrauterine insemination (IUI), among others. For employees considering adoption or surrogacy, fees, and various expenses are also covered up to the benefit limit.
Uber employees are given financial support and resources to help cover up to $10,000 of expenses related to fertility treatments, surrogacy and egg donation. This financial support is intended to provide much-needed relief from the hefty costs associated with surrogacy, adoption, and egg donation, allowing more employees to access these services.
In addition to providing financial support for fertility services, Uber also offers parental leave to all new parents, whether they’ve given birth themselves or welcomed their child by surrogacy, adoption, or foster care. New parents can take a minimum of 18 weeks of fully paid parental leave in one or two blocks over a rolling 12-month period.
Uber’s employee benefits program reflects their dedication to fostering a workplace environment that values diversity and inclusion. By supporting its employees in their family-building journeys, Uber is taking an important step toward creating a more equitable workplace.
With these benefits, Uber continues its commitment to supporting their employees’ family-building choices and creating an inclusive work environment.
9. Airbnb
Airbnb is a company that has taken significant steps to make diversity and inclusion a priority. In 2017, Airbnb launched its #WeAccept campaign in an effort to promote open minds and open doors in their home-sharing community. As part of the campaign, they committed to spend $4 million over four years in the areas of diversity and inclusion.
In 2020, Airbnb made a commitment to fight discrimination and further diversify their company and community. They have set goals to increase the representation of underrepresented groups, including women, underrepresented minorities, and LGBTQ+ employees. They have also implemented programs like the “Airbnb Academy,” which is designed to provide job training and mentorship to underrepresented groups. In 2022, they were named one of the best companies for women to advance for the second year in a row.
Airbnb is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace culture. They have implemented training programs on topics like unconscious bias and cultural competency, and they have established employee resource groups (ERGs) to support employees from diverse backgrounds.
Airbnb provides benefits that are designed to help employees with their family-building endeavors, such as egg freezing, IVF, surrogacy, and adoption. These benefits show how much the company values its diverse employees and demonstrates its commitment to building an inclusive workplace.
Conclusion
Diversity and inclusion are crucial components of a successful and thriving business. Companies that prioritize creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and included, regardless of gender, race, or identity, will benefit from increased productivity and creativity. Companies can create an inclusive environment by offering a variety of benefits to employees, such as surrogacy, adoption, foster care, and egg donor services, which allow individuals to access fertility treatments regardless of their marital status or financial situation. By taking the initiative to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces, businesses can reap the rewards for years to come.
If you would like to learn more about how Vesta can help make your workplace more diverse and inclusive, please contact us today!
