Diversity, equity and inclusion
"Macquarie is a people business - the ideas and commitment all of our employees bring as part of our global community is the driving force behind our success. Macquarie’s growth has been led by our people going out into the world to find opportunities for our clients and communities, and there’s no doubt that our diversity of thought has been one of our greatest assets." - Shemara Wikramanayake
Our commitment to an inclusive and equitable workplace
In every one of our offices across 33 markets around the world, you’ll find individuals from diverse backgrounds with different ways of thinking, different skills, and different experiences. At Macquarie, we value the innovation and creativity that diversity of thought brings and recognise that inclusion ensures all our people are empowered to innovate and invest for a better future.
We recognise that our people often have multiple, intersecting identities and so our strategy focuses on ensuring that everyone feels that they can bring their whole selves to work. Within Macquarie, we sponsor groups, committees, and employee-led initiatives that connect those from across the organisation so that they can collaborate and learn from each other.
Cultural diversity and racial equity
We recognise that equity, success, and personal empowerment must be available to all our people as a right, not a privilege, and we must continue our efforts outside and inside the workplace to build a future that secures these rights for everyone.
We are committed to fostering an inclusive and collaborative workplace where we celebrate our diversity and empower our people of all cultures, races, and ethnicities. Our current workforce is made up of people from 68 nationalities, speaking 76 languages. We provide resources to upskill and encourage our people and leaders to have open discussions on cultural diversity, with a focus on learning from historical and regional context as well as our employee’s experiences.
We recognise we don’t have all the answers today, but we are dedicated to addressing the conditions that fuel inequity to create real, long-term sustainable cultural change. Learn more about our actions.
Disability
Principles of inclusion are embedded within our policies, practices, and procedures, with workplace adjustments and technology available to all.
We promote awareness of visible and invisible disabilities, including through global campaigns. In FY21 we became a signatory to The Valuable 500 and partner with leading organisations to provide resources to ensure that everyone is empowered and enabled to succeed at Macquarie.
We are working to ensure our workplaces provide dignified access for our people and visitors, consulting with accessibility experts on the design of our new Sydney headquarters.
First Nations
We are committed to honouring and celebrating First Nations history and culture as well as providing employment opportunities for First Nations people.
We aim to raise awareness through education and training and develop long-term relationships with First Nations organisations, communities, and individuals. We offer employee secondments with Jawun and are a long-term employment partner in the CareerTrackers program, offering internships to Indigenous students.
In partnership with the Macquarie Group Foundation, we have established a number of long-term partnerships with educational organisations such as the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School, and the Clontarf Foundation to close the gap in First Nations educational outcomes.
Flexibility
We empower all our people to manage their professional commitments to meet the needs of clients, colleagues, teams and each other, and we equip our people managers to lead a flexible workforce.
At Macquarie, we are committed to hybrid working for the long term. That means most of our people balance time spent working in the office and remotely. Our approach empowers us to work together flexibly while taking advantage of the benefits of coming together in person.
Because we recognise that working flexibly means different things to different people, hybrid and flexible working at Macquarie exists in many forms, and may include changes to hours, locations, and patterns of work, study and exam leave, or leave without pay.
Families and carers
We aim to ensure all our people have the tools and opportunities to build diverse and exciting careers that adapt and reflect the changes in their personal lives. We support our employees through their parental leave with benefits enabling them to successfully transition to life as working parents on their return.
We offer paid parental leave as well as varied initiatives such as childcare centres, backup child/adult/elder care, nursing mothers' facilities, and return-to-work coaching for parents.
Our global return-to-work rate after parental leave was 97% in FY2021.
We are accredited as a National Level 2 carer-friendly organisation by Carers+Employers and a Family Friendly Workplace by Parents at Work and UNICEF Australia, recognising our ongoing commitment to support our people with parent and caring responsibilities.
Gender balance
We are committed to achieving gender balance at all levels across our organisation. Our focus continues to be on developing the internal and external female talent pipeline at both junior and senior levels.
We continue to maintain gender equity and transparency in all our remuneration, promotion, and development practices. Each year we celebrate International Women’s Day, where we share our progress and the action we are taking to promote gender equity within our organisation.
As part of our focus to develop the external female talent pipeline, we actively promote careers in finance to young women. We sponsor female university societies and promote financial services careers to female school students to motivate and empower girls to consider a broad range of career paths.
LGBTQ+
We promote a diverse and inclusive environment for our LGBTQ+ people and clients, where everyone is encouraged to bring their whole self to work and be an ally. We do this through inclusive policies, ongoing education, awareness, and community engagement.
Macquarie is listed as #1 in the UK Stonewall Workplace Equality Index and is listed as a top 10 employer by the British LGBT awards, has achieved a Top 10 ranking in the Australian Workplace Equality Index four times, qualifying us as a Platinum Employer for LGBTQ+ inclusion, and maintain a 100/100 ranking on the US Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index.