Leveraging the power of our differences

An inclusive environment makes us all feel welcomed and valued for the contributions we make. And that requires everyone’s commitment.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion

At PwC, we are committed to creating a culture of shared experiences and trusted connections, in which everyone can be authentic and embrace their personal identity as a member of a cohesive community. A culture of inclusion and belonging allows everyone an opportunity to participate, be heard, be valued and feel empowered to fulfill their potential. We bring this commitment to life by investing in our people, creating and supporting programs that enable them to be authentic and make a real difference with our clients and in our communities.

We strengthen our efforts with local and national support teams led by Shannon Schuyler, our Chief Purpose and Inclusion Officer. We have a dedicated center of excellence and network of partners leading efforts in diversity and inclusion in collaboration with human capital across all business units and markets.

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Diversity and inclusion matters to our clients

Diversity and inclusion is essential to our business. Clients look to us for broad thinking and perspectives. For that, we need people of different cultures, backgrounds and experiences—as well as the inclusive leadership skills—to work across those differences.

We believe that with our team of 50,000 people, we bring a breadth and depth of thought to our clients that is inherently diverse and inclusive. With that broadness of perspectives we can bring engagement teams that reflect the diversity of our clients and deliver innovative solutions.

Ultimately, it means more opportunity for our people and better connections and solutions for our clients.

Building connections through inclusion networks

Inclusion networks are affinity groups, networking circles and employee resource groups led by our partners and professionals who share a common background or life experience. They are open to everyone—allies, learners, members and supporters—with the goal of helping to inspire and foster a work environment where our people feel comfortable being who they are and feel valued for their input.

Key areas of focus

We focus on encouraging diversity and making PwC an even more inclusive place, where people from all backgrounds can flourish. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion spans all elements and stages of our people’s careers.

Here are some key initiatives in our commitment to early success, development and inclusion.

Disability and caregivers

According to the US Census Bureau, there are 56 million people in the US with disabilities. It is one of the nation's largest minority groups—and one that any person may become a member of during his or her lifetime. PwC's disability strategy promotes awareness and provides support for employees with disabilities and people caring for family members with disabilities. PwC takes action by:

  • Ability Reveals Itself—a multi-faceted initiative that takes into consideration the needs of not just professionals with disabilities, but also the recruiters, managers, coaches and other individuals who support our inclusive environment.
  • Focusing on talent acquisition initiatives including our Neurodiversity Talent Innovation Program.
  • Improving accessibility of physical spaces and digital tools across the firm.
  • Providing disability inclusion awareness training and education.

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Gender

We are committed to gender equality. That means we strive to attract, retain, develop and advance women at all stages in their careers. Through our initiatives we provide opportunities for our women to develop and lead, take on new challenges and thrive throughout their careers. We focus on creating an inclusive culture that develops women to be future leaders. PwC takes action by:

  • Educating our people about gender dynamics in the workplace.
  • Embedding a diversity and inclusion lens into all aspects of the career lifecycle.
  • Providing developmental leadership programs for top-performing women.
  • Hosting candid conversations on respectful workplace conduct.
  • Focusing on recruitment, engagement and branding for women in technology.
  • Being an IMPACT corporate champion of the UN Women’s HeForShe initiative, which aims to drive cultural change by working to address global gender inequality.

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LGBT+

Our LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, plus) professionals are an important community within PwC and for our clients. The firm’s strategy is designed to engage, support and advance our LGBT+ professionals and promote an inclusive and accepting work environment. PwC takes action by:

  • Having an LGBT+ Partner Advisory Board since 2004 that raises visibility of the LGBT+ community within PwC and makes policy recommendations for how the firm can attract, retain and advance LGBT+ professionals.
  • Providing full domestic partner benefit coverage and programs that support a broad range of family needs, including adoption and surrogacy.
  • Proudly supporting the transgender community and its allies. We have joined 180 other CEOs and corporate leaders who are calling for respect for all and equality under the law for transgender, gender non-binary and intersex people.
  • Providing professional development opportunities for LGBT+ staff via the national and global LGBT+ summits and through our external partnerships to convene our LGBT+ community.
  • Sponsoring research with OutLeadership—Out to Succeed and Visibility Counts.

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Minorities

We know that diverse teams are more innovative and create more impactful solutions. That’s why we want PwC to be the premier firm for minority professionals. We seek to attract, retain and advance minority staff and partners through our programs. We support early career success through learning resources that focus on individuals’ unique experiences with a cultural lens. PwC takes action by:

  • Organizing programs that provide access to role models and mentors to provide career coaching and guidance.
  • Providing opportunities for employees to broaden their networks by participating with strategic external sponsorships with diverse organizations.
  • Embedding a diversity and inclusion lens into all aspects of the career lifecycle.
  • Connecting with students to help continue to attract and recruit top talent to PwC.
  • Raising PwC’s brand through START, Career Preview, Howard University Center for Accounting Education initiatives and national diversity conferences (i.e., NABA, ALPFA, Ascend).

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Parents

We believe you can be both a great parent and a great professional. Our programs, benefits and flexible, supportive culture are designed with that belief in mind. From parental leave and phased return through backup care support and reimbursement, we are committed to supporting our parents through all phases of caregiving. PwC takes action by:

  • Offering generous leave policies and an innovative, phased return-to-work program.
  • Providing programs that support a broad range of family needs including adoption and surrogacy.
  • Promoting Full Circle—an unpaid, voluntary arrangement for eligible staff who leave the firm to become full-time caregivers that allows participants to stay connected with the firm for up to five years.
  • Promoting flexibility for everyone and providing specific support for caregivers.
  • Offering childcare discounts and nanny resources, including a referral service.

We also encourage flexibility of career paths, with the ability to step on and off the fast track, and multiple opportunities to connect with diverse role models.

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Veterans

PwC understands the depth and breadth of experience veterans bring to our country and our firm. We have created programs that support our veterans, active duty military personnel and their families at work and in the community, and we’ve enhanced our veterans initiatives to become a military-friendly professional services employer. PwC takes action by:

  • Creating a community of support for PwC’s veterans and their families, as well as those with loved ones in the military.
  • Focusing on five key areas: veteran recruiting, outreach and networking for personal and professional development and community service opportunities, education, mentorship and family readiness.
  • Providing mentorship opportunities for newly-hired PwC veterans on matters of personal and professional development.
  • By being an official supporter of the Department of Defense’s Military Spouse Employment Partnership.

PwC’s military recruiting website – http://www.pwc.com/militarycareers

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Future PwC talent

The Diversity and Inclusion Talent Acquisition strategy focuses on recruitment across five dimensions: veterans, individuals with disabilities, LGBT+, gender and underrepresented minorities. We build and execute recruitment plans that articulate how we identify, attract and hire a diverse set of skills and capabilities in the external marketplace, as well as bring awareness to key stakeholders to make inclusive hiring decisions. Initiatives include:

  • Active high school outreach in each of our nine markets to create awareness and education opportunities
  • Talent outreach initiative to expand our recruiting efforts to schools with high populations of minority students.
  • PwC Accounting Careers Leadership Institute at Bryant University
  • Career Preview: PwC’s college freshmen or rising sophomores Leadership Program
  • Start: PwC’s diversity summer internship experience, uniquely designed for high-performing college sophomores or rising juniors who self-identify as members of traditionally underrepresented minority groups in the professional services industry, protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.
  • Women's Consulting Experience: a program offering participants valuable insight into our firm, our consulting practice and our people while discovering leadership skills that can be used on campus and beyond.
  • Campus outreach: support to student chapters of ALPFA, Ascend and NABA

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Supplier diversity

PwC recognizes that our diversity efforts have a positive economic impact on the communities where we do business. We support organizations and programs that certify, train and develop diverse suppliers. Our Supplier Diversity initiative actively seeks diverse companies that can provide innovative and competitive solutions to our supply chain, as well as those that are complementary to the services we provide our clients. PwC partners with business enterprises that are qualified and certified as: minority-owned (MBE), women-owned (WBE), disability-owned (DBE), veteran-owned (VBE) and lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-owned (LGBT+). The firm also supports organizations and programs that certify, train and develop diverse suppliers.

In addition, we also help our clients meet their own supplier diversity requirements. Requests for proposals from our clients often call for strategies to include diverse suppliers, and we work closely with these firms during the contracting process. In addition to helping our clients, we are providing support to the communities where we do business and promoting economic development in a fast-growing segment of the population.

PwC is proud to be an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer.

External recognition

PwC’s dedication to diversity and inclusion has been recognized by a broad spectrum of external organizations. We view this as an opportunity to measure our progress and assess where we stand in a competitive field that includes other professional services firms, as well as our clients.

Our commitment to diversity, inclusion, flexibility and leadership development makes our firm one of the best places to work and learn. View how we've been awarded and recognized.

Building inclusion acumen

We’re making significant investments to foster inclusive leadership for all of our staff—critical skills that include investing in relationships, building trust, communicating with impact and developing a global business perspective.

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Shannon Schuyler

Shannon Schuyler

Chief Purpose and Inclusion Officer, PwC US

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