SSE has pledged its commitment to the Equal by 30 campaign which aims to achieve equal pay, leadership and opportunities for women in the clean energy sector by 2030.
The announcement comes shortly ahead of the Women in Engineering Day which takes place on Sunday (23 June).
“All the evidence shows diversity enhances business success,” said Jim Smith, managing director for SSE Renewables.
“An inclusive and diverse workforce offers better debate, decision making and outcomes which is why we’re committed to taking a rigorous and targeted approach to inclusion at all levels across our business.
“There is no quick fix,” he added. “We need to attract a more diverse pool of applicants to the energy sector, ensure there is fair opportunity for all to develop and rise in their career.”
As part of its pledge, SSE has vowed to:
- Increase female representation on the group’s executive committee and among anyone who reports directly to the committee, excluding administrative staff, from 21 per cent currently to 30 per cent by March 2021.
- Increase female membership of the group’s executive committee, its sub-committees and the executive committees for individual businesses within the group from 16 per cent currently to 25 per cent by March 2021.
- Increase the percentage of women among employees earning more than £70,000 from 14 per cent currently to 20 per cent by March 2021.
- Increase the percentage of women among employees earning more than £40,000 from 21 per cent currently to 25 per cent by 2025.
In May, the Powerful Women initiative published figures on the composition of the boards of the UK’s top 80 energy companies, which showed progress to increase female representation has been “disappointingly slow”.