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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

A diverse workforce is a better workforce. It enables and promotes the different thinking and approaches to problem-solving needed to run a successful business, tackle global problems and lies at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Our approach to diversity and inclusion focuses not just on building diversity through gender but includes ethnicity, and diversity of thought and experience, as well as our local communities and countries.

Wherever we operate, we seek to build a workforce and supplier pool that reflects the community itself. As part of our stakeholder mapping and engagement, we work to identify and understand if there are any vulnerable or marginalized groups near our operations and work to ensure they have the same opportunities as the rest of the community. Where we identify discrepancies and barriers to participation in the labour market, we seek to remove them. This diversity is a critical part of our mission to transform natural resources into sustainable benefits and mutual prosperity for our employees, local communities and host country governments.

We are an equal opportunity employer and aim to employ on candidate merit and individual strength, rather than striving to meet quotas or targets-based on gender, race, disability, ethnicity, religious belief or sexual orientation. At the same time, we realize some groups face educational, institutional, and structural barriers that restrict opportunities, particularly in developing and emerging economies. In these instances, we take a long-term view and work with our human resources teams to identify high potential candidates and provide them with the training needed to grow in time with the organization.

We also invest in long-term community projects focused on increasing educational baselines and upskilling communities to build an effective multicultural and multigenerational workforce that is equipped to take on the challenges of a changing world. Key components of our approach to diversity are:

  • Prioritizing local hiring to grow the cultural and ethnic diversity of our workforce.
  • Building the skills and capabilities of our host country workers to expand our positive impact on local, regional, and national economies.
  • Doing our part to right the gender imbalance in the historically male- dominated mining industry by prioritizing initiatives that support gender diversity, including the recruitment and development of women at all levels in our workforce, from internship to management.
  • Continuing our focus on recruiting and training the next generation of mining talent with the potential to become future leaders of the company.
  • Fostering an inclusive environment where our employees feel their voice is heard, all cultures and differences are respected and that a variety of perspectives are welcome and essential to our long-term success.

Workforce Map

Workforce Map

Board Diversity

Overall, independent directors make up 80% of our Board and, in line with the target set in our Diversity Policy for women to represent at least 30% of directors by the end of 2022, women make up one-third of our Board and 40% of the independent directors.

Further to this, 40% of our Board is comprised of directors who self-identify as racially and/or ethnically diverse, reflective of our commitment to identifying the best candidates for nomination as directors and having regard to Barrick’s highly specialized business and the key geographies in which we conduct our global operations.

Management approach: Diversity & inclusion

Governance and accountability

Responsibility and accountability for Diversity, equity and inclusion rests with our Human Resource Executive, and supported by regional Human Resources Executives, Site Managers as well as our Group Sustainability Executive.

Policies and procedures

Barrick is an equal opportunity employer, our policy is to appoint the best person to the job based on individual strengths, irrespective of gender, race, disability, ethnicity, religious belief or sexual orientation.

Our strategy to achieve a more diverse and engaged workplace continues with our enduring focus in the following areas:

  • Living our sustainability strategy by prioritizing local hiring to grow the cultural and ethnic diversity of our workforce. We also build the skills and capabilities of our host country workers to multiply our positive impact on local, regional, and national economies.
  • Doing our part to right the gender imbalance in the historically male-dominated mining industry by prioritizing initiatives that support gender diversity, including the recruitment and development of women at all levels in our workforce, from internship to management.
  • Continuing our focus on recruiting and training the next generation of mining talent with the potential to become future leaders of the company.
  • Fostering an inclusive environment where our employees feel that all voices are heard, all cultures and differences respected, and that a variety of perspectives are welcome and essential to our long-term success.

Our flat, decentralized management structure aims to engender an inclusive culture and provides our executive team with direct access to our operations, enabling transparent, two-way communication. We also conduct annual executive and regional team effectiveness sessions to create a shared understanding of, and commitment to, our high-performance ethos.

Key targets and metrics

  • 30% female Board composition
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