Promoting diversity: empowering women in operations
Gaining a better understanding of the barriers to career progression for women in front-line operations has enabled us to take targeted actions.
Fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion creates a healthier workplace for employees. Several bodies of research show that gender-diverse and inclusive teams outperform less inclusive, gender-homogenous teams. At Givaudan, we are committed to addressing gender imbalance, not only for the wellbeing of our employees, but also for the success of the Company.
One relevant initiative now targets the promotion of women working in operations. Men fill most of the positions on the shopfloor, and talent is hard to find. Our objective in Fragrance & Beauty is to increase the number of women in frontline operations to 15% by 2030 from 8% today.
To get there, we first need to better understand the barriers and challenges to career progression for women within operations. Gathering data from employee dashboards, engagement surveys and focus groups as well as examining local policies, workplace facilities, job descriptions and job postings has allowed us to carry out a thorough analysis of gender representation in operations at the Vernier, Jigani and Ashford Fragrance & Beauty sites. This information, complemented with data from Baierbrunn, Germany and Malvinas, Argentina in 2025, allows us to propose specific courses of action, unique to each site.
Increasing share of women employees in Jigani
In Jigani, India, we initiated workshops and town hall meetings to build mindsets; made changes to restrooms, showers and changing rooms, and installed a mothers’ room; introduced semi-automated mobile scale trolleys on the shop floor to ease manual work for everyone and further supported working mothers with access to an external childcare centre. As a result, employees reported greater psychological safety, inclusion and respect, and the number of women employees increased to 22% in five years.
In Ashford, improvements include refurbishment of the shower and changing facilities to create an inviting, warm space for washing and changing. We have also modified role descriptions to correctly reflect the physical elements of the positions, making them more appealing to women. Working with our recruitment agency partner, we ensure the use of gender neutral language in recruitment.
At the Malvinas site in Argentina, we have a plan to redesign the manufacturing plant to segregate pack sizes so that smaller pack sizes of 5 to 10 kg can be handled in a specific area, assigned to an exclusive operator requiring less physical effort, which would be a benefit for all employees.
Dedicated changing rooms in Botucatu
At the Brazil Botucatu Taste & Wellbeing site, the simple measure of adapting physical space by creating a dedicated changing room was crucial to ensuring comfort, health, and dignity for all employees.
Taste & Wellbeing has also invested in training and professional development programmes, encouraging equity in growth opportunities. Internal policies promote and ensure a discrimination-free environment, supporting the advancement of all individuals.
Expanding the programme across global sites
While we are beginning to see results, with more women in front-line operations, our primary focus is now on fully establishing the programme. We are expanding our research to additional sites and introducing new measures to support progress.
Looking ahead, the initiative will include regular networking events, workshops, and seminars with guest speakers on leadership; mentorship programmes pairing aspiring female leaders with experienced colleagues; and training focused on leadership skills and personal branding.
Together, these efforts will strengthen support networks, foster career growth, encourage knowledge sharing, and create a more inclusive work environment for women in Fragrance & Beauty and Taste & Wellbeing operations.