GSK announces gender and diversity aspirational targets to increase representation at senior levels

For media and investors only

Issued: London, UK

• Aspirational targets to increase ethnically diverse senior leadership in the US and UK.
• Gender diversity aspirational target extended to drive further progress.

GSK has announced aspirational targets to make further progress on its gender and ethnic diversity representation in senior leadership.

As a result of work to increase female representation in senior roles, GSK has already exceeded its target of 37% of VP-level and above roles being filled by women. The company will now extend this to increase female representation in VP level and above roles to at least 45% by 2025.

To drive greater racial and ethnic diversity in senior roles in its two biggest employee populations in the US and UK, new targets have been introduced in these countries, reflecting demographics in these countries.

In the US, a new target of at least 30% ethnically diverse leaders by the end of 2025 is now in place to increase representation from the current level of 23%. In the UK, the new target is at least 18% ethnically diverse leaders by the end of 2025, from a current level of 11%.

While the expectation is progress across all groups during that time, there will be a specific focus in the US to increase the percentage of Black or African American, and Hispanic or Latinx senior leaders and to increase the percentage of Black senior leaders in the UK year-on-year.

These targets are part of GSK’s broader commitments to inclusion and diversity, to increase representation and inclusion across all the different groups of people across its workforce.

Emma Walmsley, Chief Executive Officer, GSK, said, “We have already made some good progress on our inclusion and diversity agenda, but there is still much more we can do. These new ambitions are the next step for us as we build a diverse workforce that represents the society we operate in and ultimately helps us provide more effective solutions for patients and consumers.”

GSK’s commitment to inclusion and diversity

GSK’s approach to improve inclusion and diversity is focused on ‘Our People, Our Business and Our Communities’. Driving representation within the company is one important part of this approach, and GSK is committed to ensuring its workforce reflects the communities it serves, and its leadership reflects its workforce. Existing initiatives have driven progress in increasing representation within the company, these include development programmes for female and ethnically diverse colleagues, review of recruitment and selection processes and the roll out of inclusion training across the company.

More information on GSK’s commitment to Inclusion and Diversity: Inclusion and diversity at GSK | GSK

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Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described under Item 3.D "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2019 and as set out in GSK’s “Principal risks and uncertainties” section of the Q4 Results and any impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.