VICE releases 2020 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report

VMG is now a majority female company globally, with the number of women increasing by 5.8%, bringing the overall total to 56%. 58% of new hires around the world identified as women, says VMG.

In the US, where data on ethnicity can be fully collected, the results showed:

• 3.9% increase in employees who identify as BIPOC, with 42% of total US employees identifying as BIPOC.
• Over half of new hires were BIPOC identifying (54%), an increase of 9.12%
• Of the BIPOC new hires, 21% identified as Black or African American.
• VMG’s Executive Team: in 2019 this group was 68% men and 32% women identifying. In 2020 it was 56% men and 44% women identifying.
• In 2019 the executive team was 80% White and 20% BIPOC in the US. In 2020, it was 57% White and 43% BIPOC. For the first time, there are executives who identify as Hispanic and Two or More Races.

The release of VMG’s most comprehensive report to date comes after Chief People Officer Daisy Auger-Domínguez was hired by CEO Nancy Dubuc in early 2020. Auger-Domínguez spearheaded a new DEI strategy over the course of the year, which reflects Dubuc’s ongoing focus on culture, the value of diversity and ensuring both teams and content reflect VMG’s global communities, say the company.

Updated measures put in place include a new Hiring Playbook, broadened inclusive benefits, calibrated performance management to be more objective and reduce bias, instituted management and inclusive leadership training, increased mental health support, additional holiday days and new Code of Conduct and Respect in the Workplace policies. VMG also has a number of Community Groups including Families, Wellbeing, LGBTQ+ and POC Groups, who work closely on DEI initiatives. VMG also created a DEI Dashboard for all staff, where every piece of work launched under the DEI strategy is clearly explained, logged and tracked in complete transparency. VMG has already seen a +15% point increase in global employee sentiment of DEI, manager and leadership measures, demonstrating an immediate positive impact.

The 2020 report forefronts transparency; in addition to VMG’s long term strategy being laid out in full, it also features intersectional data for the first time and provides a look at the company’s Pay Equity Report, which resulted in adjustments for 0.6% of the global workforce when it was released in December 2020.

Nancy Dubuc, Chief Executive Officer at VMG says: “No one could have expected the year that was 2020. We witnessed seismic cultural, political and social change, and through a global pandemic, we had to pivot the way we collaborate and begin to find our new best ways of working. I am immensely proud not just of the work we produced, but of the new systems and cultural programming created by and for the people of VICE Media Group. Looking at the year ahead, I would like to call on our entire industry to come together and understand how we can put our collective momentum behind making a permanent difference to how we show up not just for ourselves, but everyone around us. Together we can make this happen.”

Daisy Auger-Domínguez, Chief People Officer at VMG adds: “There are no shortcuts. No silver bullet. And while workforce representation data is important, it doesn’t tell the whole story. In my first year at VMG we focused on building the right foundation by reviewing and improving upon our people processes, policies, and programs. Scripts and talking points can only get you so far. This is about how to practically and intentionally be inclusive and anti-racist, and how to create conditions that enable managers, leaders and teams to stay on a consistent path, even when that means stumbling along the way.”

As part of its ongoing commitment to bettering DEI practises, this year VMG extended ethnicity representation in the data to the United Kingdom on an opt-in basis. 70% of UK employees provided the ethnicity they identify with, showing that 52% of people identified as White and 17% identified as Black, Mixed or Asian. Less than 3% of respondents said they did not see how they self-identify in the options provided and this information will be used to improve the process for future data gathering. VMG aims to increase this participation rate in future reports and to roll this opt-in function out to other territories, where legally permissible.

In addition to bringing CPO Auger-Domínguez into the fold, other notable hires in 2020 included new Refinery29 Editor in Chief Simone Oliver, a decade veteran of the New York Times and formerly of Allure, Facebook and Instagram, along with Nadja Bellan-White who joined in a newly created Global CMO role late last year from her executive partner position at Ogilvy.