Diversity and Inclusion
At PG&E, our commitment to diversity and inclusion is fundamental to how we do business. Having access to the widest possible range of ideas, perspectives and backgrounds brings new and innovative thinking to our operations, as does ensuring all voices and opinions are respected and heard. These values create a culture where employees feel comfortable being themselves at work so that they can reach their full potential. Together, they make us stronger, enable us to better serve our customers and communities, and position PG&E for the future.
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(Skip to main navigation)Our Approach
Governance Structures
PG&E’s efforts to foster a diverse and inclusive culture and workforce are led by our Chief Diversity Officer, with support from the senior leadership team. A Diversity Council—composed of PG&E officers and Employee Resource Group (ERG) leaders—meets to inform PG&E’s diversity and inclusion strategy. Each line of business has a Workforce Diversity Champion and annual Workforce Diversity Action Plan with goals tailored to that organization.
The Compliance and Public Policy Committee of PG&E Corporation’s Board of Directors reviews our diversity and inclusion practices and performance. The goal of this oversight is to ensure that diversity and inclusion principles are embedded throughout the lifecycle of our talent management programs.
To that end, new PG&E leaders attend an Inclusion Leadership Workshop as part of our Leading Forward leadership development program. Materials on applying inclusive best practices are also available to all employees on PG&E’s intranet, and PG&E regularly recognizes employees who embody our diversity and inclusion principles. That recognition culminates each year with the President’s Diversity Champion Awards, which honor employees for their outstanding achievements in the areas of diversity and inclusion.
Grassroots Involvement
Our ERGs have been at the forefront of PG&E’s diversity and inclusion efforts for more than 40 years. Through awareness campaigns, networking events, skills workshops that promote employee development, community service and volunteerism, our ERGs work to promote and instill diversity and inclusion as values for every employee. In addition, each year, every ERG raises money for college scholarships for local students.
We also support professional organizations such as the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers and the American Association of Blacks in Energy.
2016 Milestones
In 2016, we continued to make progress implementing our diversity and inclusion strategy and furthering our workforce development programs. Highlights included:
- Championed building the workforce of the future. Workforce Diversity Champions set goals and took actions to increase workforce diversity and the inclusivity of the line-of-business culture. For example, to address a recruiting challenge, Electric and Gas Operations both convened groups of women in field roles to identify strategies to better attract, develop and retain women in the field.
- Increased engagement in our ERGs. Our ERGs continued to grow, with approximately 5,500 members, up 8 percent from 2015, across 27 chapters throughout the service area. More than half of PG&E’s officers are executive sponsors to one or more ERG.
- Spurred access to higher education. Our ERGs awarded a record $430,000 in scholarships to 176 students, ranging from $1,000 to $8,000 per scholarship. Since 1989, more than $4.5 million in scholarships have been awarded to thousands of recipients.
- Pioneered thought leadership. PG&E instituted workplace gender transitions guidelines and continued to advance policy, training and resources to support workplaces for the transgender community.
- Garnered high praise from leading diversity advocates. Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s diversity efforts were recognized by a wide variety of groups, including the Asia Society (named one of the top employers for Asian Pacific Americans) and the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (named 2016 Corporation of the Year). In addition, for the ninth straight year, Pacific Gas and Electric Company was named as one of the top five gas and electric energy companies by DiversityInc, and earned 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Corporate Equality Index for the 14th consecutive year. PG&E Corporation was also named one of the 50 best companies for diversity by Black Enterprise Magazine. Additionally, Pacific Gas and Electric Company earned a score of 100 percent for the second consecutive year in the annual Disability Equality Index, a measure of disability inclusion policies and practices, and joined the Best for Vets list for 2016, ranking no. 41 in our first year taking part in the Military Times survey.
Measuring Progress
PG&E continues to employ a higher percentage of women and minorities in our workforce than the national average for gas and electric companies. PG&E’s workforce statistics by race, ethnicity and gender for 2014 to 2016 are below.
| EEOC Category | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women | 28.2% | 28.1% | 28.4% |
| Officials and Managers | 32.2% | 32.0% | 33.6% |
| Professionals | 35.0% | 35.2% | 34.5% |
| Technicians | 18.7% | 18.6% | 18.6% |
| Administrative Support Workers | 72.3% | 71.8% | 72.0% |
| Craft Workers | 2.7% | 2.6% | 2.4% |
| Operatives | 3.4% | 4.8% | 4.0% |
| Laborers and Helpers | 9.2% | 11.2% | 12.0% |
| Service Workers | 9.7% | 10.3% | 8.0% |
| Ethnic Minorities | 41.1% | 41.7% | 42.7% |
| Officials and Managers | 31.3% | 32.0% | 32.6% |
| Professionals | 42.5% | 43.8% | 44.9% |
| Technicians | 41.9% | 39.4% | 39.6% |
| Administrative Support Workers | 59.7% | 60.7% | 62.4% |
| Craft Workers | 31.9% | 32.6% | 33.0% |
| Operatives | 33.3% | 41.8% | 39.3% |
| Laborers and Helpers | 47.7% | 48.1% | 48.2% |
| Service Workers | 32.2% | 33.2% | 34.7% |
| Minority Groups | |||
| American Indian or Alaskan Native | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.2% |
| Asian | 14.6% | 14.7% | 14.7% |
| Black/African American | 6.3% | 6.3% | 6.4% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 16.7% | 17.0% | 17.6% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.7% | 1.9% | 2.3% |
- PG&E Corporation EEO-1 Report, as of July 1, 2016.
| Category | PG&E | U.S. Energy Company Average Footnote 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Women | 28.4% | 25.5% |
| Ethnic Minorities | 42.7% | 24.9% |
- 1. Source: 2016 EEO-1 Reports: Combined Electric and Gas Utilities, U.S. Total. NAICS Code 2211 – Electric Power Generation, Transmission & Distribution, U.S. NAICS Code 2212 – Natural Gas Distribution, U.S. ▲
Looking Ahead
To continue to build a culture where all employees feel safe being themselves at work, we are focused on further embedding diversity and inclusion principles and tools within our business. We will also continue to update our training materials to increase awareness of unconscious bias and how it can influence processes and practices.
Finally, we will continue our focus on several key areas:
- Growing careers by developing and promoting employees from within PG&E and reaching out to hire talent from our communities,
- Fostering an inclusive culture where all employees contribute by raising concerns and listening with integrity and authenticity, and
- Preparing our communities for careers in energy by developing talent locally.