Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

IPG’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has long been core to our mission and instrumental in our long-term success. We maintain an unwavering pursuit to increase representation in our industry to fuel progressive impact in today’s culture. Our commitments are backed by policies, programming and accountability.

Policies & Management Supporting DEI

IPG’s DEI programs and strategy are overseen by our Global Chief Diversity & Social Impact Officer. IPG’s Board of Directors reviews diversity metrics using measurable goals to assess progress each year. Our Board is actively involved in talent management and is regularly updated on diversity as a key talent indicator. Our DEI Executive Council is comprised of DEI leaders from across our companies, with the goal to advancing our efforts in DEI and social impact across all dimensions of our business. Our policies aim to help ensure equal opportunities and a fair culture for all. These policies are available on our Corporate Governance website, including our Code of Conduct, Human Rights Policy, Anti-Harassment & Equal Employment Policy and Policy on Board Diversity.

Diverse Workforce Mobility

To ensure progress, we have a variety of global programs and incentives in place that focus on the hiring, retention and promotion of diverse groups across the company. In 2006, IPG became the first in our industry to tie the compensation of our agencies’ CEOs to diverse representation, and we continue to do so. We utilize high priority objectives (HPOs) in annual compensation incentive plans to drive progress on hiring, promoting and retaining BIPOC talent.

Tracking & Reporting

IPG’s executive statistics show that IPG has strong gender representation across all ranks of our company. In 2022, IPG exceeded the U.S. National External Workforce Benchmark for women in the categories of senior/executive- level managers, first/mid-level managers and professionals. Our U.S. EEO-1 data showed that 51% of our senior-most leaders across IPG are women. In the U.S., we saw increases in management representation across all minority groups in 2022 for a total increase of 2.2%.

External Assurance: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) performed a limited assurance engagement on certain employee diversity metrics for the year ended or as of December 31, 2022.

Additional diversity data is available in our ESG Report.

Programs & Initiatives

Diversity and inclusion are key in how IPG delivers extraordinary value to our stakeholders. We are creating a representative and highly talented workforce at every level, with a culture that drives belonging, well-being and growth for all of our people and fosters the cultural insights and sensitivity to help our clients make authentic and responsible connections with their customers.

Pay Equity

We are committed to pay equity across our network for women and underrepresented groups. This includes an annual pay equity review with an external consultant, and correcting any individual anomalies that are identified.

In 2022, IPG renewed its support for the UN Global Compact’s Women’s Empowerment Principles, a program guiding businesses to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.

Inclusive Sourcing & Business Partner Diversity

IPG actively seeks out companies owned by women, racial and ethnic minorities, veterans, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities. In 2022, IPG’s certified diverse third-party vendor spend in the U.S. was approximately $200 million.

Learning & Culture

Through events, training, curated content, research and tools, IPG fosters awareness and action on issues related to the recruitment, retention, advancement, well-being and belonging for people who are part of underrepresented groups.

Eliminating Bias & Stereotypes in Creative Work

IPG companies collaborate with partners and clients on campaigns that avoid stereotypes, foster inclusion, promote the empowerment of women and underrepresented groups, and combat discrimination and sexual violence.

Accessibility Strategy

Inclusion and access for people with disabilities is a key element of IPG’s DEI work. IPG is committed to ensuring that our communications meet the highest accessibility standards to be inclusive of people of all abilities. In 2022, IPG began increasing our focus on accessibility, specifically improving the digital accessibility of our corporate website as well as working to improve accessibility of existing and new digital properties.

To further this commitment to accessibility, IPG company, Current Global, established the Accessible by Design campaign to ensure that every piece of communication created for the company and its clients meets the highest accessibility standards to be inclusive of people of all abilities. Clients can also request an Accessible by Design audit, helping to chart a path to increased accessibility.

Employee Training & Engagement

All IPG employees are trained regularly on many of our diversity-related policies. Annual training reinforces the diversity and inclusion expectations expressed in our Code of Conduct. Additionally, IPG provides anti-harassment training to all new hires in the U.S., and all employees are re-trained on the topic regularly (depending on local regulations).

In addition to training, we use a rich network of tools and practices to engage our people in DEI efforts. These include employee surveys, regular communication both in writing and through live events, and a variety of business resource groups. Our global BRGs include Asian Heritage Group, Black Employee Network, Women’s Leadership Network, SOMOS and PLUS.

Our Partnerships

IPG supports numerous community-based organizations and is actively involved in partnerships with leading coalitions that bring together companies to advance DEI, including:

Unstereotype Alliance

IPG is a founding member and Vice-Chair of UN Women’s Unstereotype Alliance, which aims to eradicate harmful stereotypes in all media and advertising content.

Free The Bid
The Female Quotient

To promote increased representation of women in client organizations and media and technology industry organizations, IPG has partnered with organizations like Free the Bid and The Female Quotient. Free The Bid’s pledge calls for ad agencies, production companies and brands to have at least one woman director on every commercial production job. The Female Quotient supports organizations committed to closing the gender gap in the workplace.

30% Club

IPG is a member of the 30% Club, a global coalition aimed at ensuring a minimum of 30% representation of women on corporate boards. IPG has consistently exceeded this objective, with a total of 44% women members in 2022.

Honors & Recognition

IPG has been recognized for our progress in advancing DEI in our organization, as well as within our industry and in our communities. In 2021, IPG was awarded the following honors and recognitions:

IPG was listed among the top five in the U.S. for “Best Employers for Diversity 2022” by Forbes and Statista.

In 2022, IPG was listed on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index for the 13th year in a row and was named one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality."

In 2022, IPG was listed on the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index for the third consecutive year.

For the first time, IPG has been listed on the Disability Equality Index by Disability:IN.

Eleven women from IPG companies were among the honorees in Campaign’s U.S. 2022 Female Frontier Awards. The awards celebrate bold, ground-breaking women across all areas of advertising, marketing and communications.