Berkshire Hathaway Inc: Disclosure of Key Diversity and Inclusion Metrics

BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) report to shareholders on the effectiveness of the Company's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The report should be done at reasonable expense, exclude proprietary information, and provide transparency on outcomes, using quantitative metrics for workforce diversity, hiring, promotion, and retention of employees, including data by gender, race, and ethnicity.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT: Quantitative data is sought so that investors can assess and compare the effectiveness of companies’ diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

It is advised that this content be provided through Berkshire’s existing sustainability reporting infrastructure. An independent report specific to this topic is not requested.

WHEREAS: Companies that release, or have committed to release, more inclusion data than Berkshire include: American International Group, American Express, PayPal, Visa, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Blackrock, and Mastercard.

As You Sow and Whistle Stop Capital released research in November 2023[1] that reviewed over 4,500 EEO-1 reports, which show corporate workforce diversity. The data shows a positive correlation between manager diversity and corporate performance.

As of the date of the filing of this proposal, Berkshire had not yet shared sufficient hiring, retention, or promotion data to allow investors to determine the effectiveness of its diversity and inclusion programs.

As detailed below, inclusion indicators are also important in assessing Berkshire’s workplace equity efforts and if the Company will be able to successfully build, utilize, and retain a diverse management team.

Hiring: Studies conducted by economists at the University of Chicago and UC Berkeley found that “discriminating companies tend to be less profitable,” stating “it is costly for firms to discriminate against productive workers.”[2]

Promotion: Without equitable promotional practices, companies will be unable to build the necessary employee pipelines for diverse management. Women and employees of color experience “a broken rung” in their careers; for every 100 men who are promoted, only 87 women are. Whereas women of color comprise 18 percent of the entry-level workforce and only 6 percent of executives.[3]

Retention: Retention rates indicate if employees believe a company represents their best opportunity. Morgan Stanley has found that employee retention above industry average can indicate a competitive advantage and higher levels of future profitability.[4]

Warren Buffet has acknowledged that inequities exist in the workplace between women, people of color, and their White male counterparts. Berkshire has improved its diversity data disclosure by releasing its consolidated EEO-1 form, which shows workforce composition by gender, race, and ethnicity.

In 2021, 2022, and 2023, more than 40 percent of Berkshire’s independent investors voted in support of this data disclosure request.[5] However, in a review of each Berkshire company, the release of this data had not improved over the last three years. Investors remain without key information on the hiring, promotion, and retention rates of Berkshire employees.

[1] https://www.asyousow.org/report-page/2023-positive-relationships-linking-workforce-diversity-and-financial-performance

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/29/business/economy/hiring-racial-discrimination.html

[3] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace

[4] https://www.morganstanley.com/im/publication/insights/articles/article_culturequantframework_us.pdf, p. 2

[5] https://www.asyousow.org/resolutions-tracker

Resolution Details

Company: Berkshire Hathaway Inc

Lead Filers:

Myra Young

Year: 2024

Filing Date:
November 2023

Initiative(s): Diversity and Gender Equity