Reflecting on our progress toward gender equality

As we approach March 8, International Women’s Day, I have been reflecting on the progress we’ve made at Nokia toward gender equality.

We’ve promoted many initiatives in the past year to support this – ranging from training our leaders on inclusive hiring to driving targeted initiatives to develop and retain talented women. In 2023, we exceeded our external female hiring target of 27% and reached 27.9%. Our overall score of 83.03% on the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index is our highest and higher than the tech industry’s average score of 72.36%.

Nokia is proud to be part of the #ChangeTheFace alliance and drive change in the tech industry to make it more diverse and inclusive. The alliance is formed for advocacy, to collaborate on joint initiatives, to share learnings, and to increase the pace of change. The aim is to encourage more women and minority groups to build their careers in technology.

Nokia has worked with UN Women over the past two years to empower women and girls across the world. Through our collaboration, we’ve harnessed the power of technology skills?to improve lives and increase gender equality. At the end of 2023, we extended our collaboration and scaled up our ambitions to act together in more countries across five different regions to benefit more people.

One of our actions at Nokia has been to create an “Action for Leadership” program supported by UN Women and in partnership with some of Nokia’s customers. The program’s goal is to showcase the benefits for businesses and societies when a gender-balanced approach is taken for innovative and human-centered technology-driven business opportunities.

A recent recognition for our efforts at building diversity came when the Nordic Business Diversity Index 2024 ranked Nokia as 4th among NASDAQ Helsinki Large-Cap companies. The Nordic Business Diversity Index 2024?evaluates key diversity aspects in the Board of Directors and Executive Management teams within over 600 companies listed in NASDAQ Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Reykjavik. Now in its landmark 5th year, the Index serves as a benchmark for business diversity across the Nordics.

I am heartened by the efforts and achievements and at the same time realize that there is still much to do on this journey.

Many challenges hinder the career advancement of women. Issues such as low representation in leadership positions and non-inclusive work practices need to be addressed systematically and consistently for positive results to become visible. As we gear up to celebrate International Women’s Day, I encourage everyone to recognize that gender equality is not just about addressing the inequality between men and women. It is also about creating an inclusive work environment for women with diverse identities, including LGBT+ women, women with disabilities, women from ethnic minorities, and others who face obstacles in the workplace. The first steps towards inclusion include recognizing our differences and valuing the beauty and greatness that can be achieved when diverse minds come together and collaborate.

At Nokia, we believe that it is our collective responsibility to create an inclusive work environment where all employees, regardless of gender, feel respected and supported to reach their full potential. To this end, we will continue to ensure that our policies and processes are inclusive, we will focus on hiring and retaining talented women by providing them with career growth opportunities and we will stay committed to creating a work environment in which we all respect each other regardless of gender identity or other differences. In this journey, we need everyone to be committed to the cause of gender equality and make this a priority in all our actions.

Please join me in celebrating the many achievements of our wonderful women colleagues as we approach International Women’s Day.

I am keen to know how you think we can enrich this journey towards gender equality. I invite you to share your thoughts here with the #InspireInclusion hashtag.