Aim to hire 1000 women in 2012

Aerospace and Defence Group signs Charter for women in Science, Engineering and Technology at Farnborough Air show – Commitment to Diversity

At the Farnborough Air show, EADS and its divisions – Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter – signed the CEO Charter of the UK Resource Centre (UKRC) for women in Science, Engineering and Technology to demonstrate their commitment equal career chances and diversity. The signing ceremony took place in the presence of UKRC Members, Thierry Baril, Chief Human Resources Officer EADS & Airbus, Robin Southwell, CEO of EADS UK, Patrick Wood, COO of Astrium UK and Mo Stevens, CEO Cassidian UK, as well as an audience of EADS’ employees. In order to reach its targets in terms of a higher percentage of female employees and managers, the Group is planning to hire 1000 women in 2012. The UKRC’s CEO Charter helps companies make visible their senior management’s commitment to building gender equality. By signing the charter, EADS commits to support the aim of increasing the participation of women in science, engineering and technology, to develop gender equality and communicate around it, as well as to promote best practice.

“EADS is deeply committed to diversity in both principle and in practice. Respect for differences among the workforce has been shown to improve collective performance across organizations, as well as building a more open-minded, inclusive culture. Much of our commercial success has been driven by our multi-culturalism, and embracing diversity is equally important. By signing the UKRC’s CEO Charter, EADS further demonstrates its continuing commitment to implement a positive culture change among the Group.” said Robin Southwell, CEO of EADS UK.

EADS is already committed to implementing diversity policies among its workforce and aims at lifting the level of women recruited to 25%, and the number of female managers to 20% by 2020. This will be achieved via a number of different initiatives such as specially dedicated leadership programmes such as GROW (Growing Opportunities for Women). EADS have proved over the years its active support to the national objective to raise the profile of Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects in the hope of encouraging more students, and particularly female students, to study these subjects and ultimately choose careers in STEM related fields. Airbus and Astrium for example have a network of STEM ambassadors in the UK who go to schools to encourage boys and girls equally to consider a career in science and technology.

The EADS mentoring programme is also strongly focusing on developing female talent across all Divisions. The Group has set up networks also in each home country involving between 50 and 200 women who are jointly working with the Company on items such as work life balance, career development and men’s perception of women at work.

The EADS Diversity Board was also launched in 2011 under the chairmanship of Thierry Baril, Chief HR Officer EADS & Airbus to promote diversity within the workforce. The Board aims to look beyond existing diversity initiatives and to find further ways of promoting diversity across the whole Group. EADS’s Diversity Strategy focuses on Gender, Disability, Intergeneration and Social/Cultural Backgrounds. To name but a few items.

The UK Resource Centre (UKRC) for women in Science, Engineering and Technology is a leading organisation for the provision of organisational development services for businesses and organisations wanting to build gender equality and diversity. The UKRC has informed and advised over 650 employers and organisations on gender equality policy and practice – together they employ or serve over one million people in the UK.

The UKRC CEO Charter has gained nearly 200 active signatories – they include new start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises and major companies and membership organisations

About EADS

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2011, the Group – comprising Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter – generated revenues of € 49.1 billion and employed a workforce of over 133,000.

See also the CEO Charter for women in Science, Engineering and Technology