Diversity, equity and inclusion: celebrating our differences

Our DE&I journey

We know that actions speak louder than words, so we’ve taken a considered approach to achieving our vision of creating inclusive and people-driven workplaces. Whether it’s training our leaders to build diverse and inclusive teams or providing our people a voice via our employee networks, we’re always looking to move the dial on DE&I.

No matter your role or seniority, we believe creating a culture of inclusion is everyone’s responsibility. We actively encourage our people to get involved in celebrating and championing important days of recognition, participating in learning and development activities, or joining working groups that amplify their voice. By joining Hays, you’ll not only be able to bring your authentic self to the workplace every day, but help forge a world of work where inclusivity is the norm, and every individual feels valued and respected.

As a market leader, we’re in a unique position to enable real change; both on a local and national scale. Through our FAIRER Consulting business, we’re actively modelling high standards of DE&I throughout the wider world of work, helping businesses across Ireland and beyond become more inclusive spaces and doing our part to enact positive change. And with 47% of our senior leadership team in Ireland being female, we’re demonstrating a clear commitment to driving more equal gender representation at a senior level.

Powering change through partnerships

Developing lasting relationships is key to our ethos, and our commitment to driving diversity, equity and inclusion can be seen through our thriving partnerships with charities and good causes. Discover how we’re linking up with organisations and communities across Ireland to help to level the playing field:

The Open Doors Initiative

Despite the recent trend of full employment, many of Ireland’s marginalised groups are cut out of work and face higher barriers to employment than others. 

To help challenge this inequity, we’ve partnered with the Open Doors Initiative, a group of over 95 companies and NGOs who work with the government to create pathways to education, employment and entrepreneurship for some of Ireland’s most marginalised people. This includes offering online training, mentorships, assisted learning, seminars and in-house guidance for existing employees on a range of subjects, along with funding for courses.

Over the past year, we’ve worked with Open Doors to deliver training sessions to our DE&I Council and the wider Ireland team about cultural awareness, and are helping them deliver further training for different initiatives over the next year.

Down Syndrome Ireland

We recently partnered with Down Syndrome Ireland with the aim of raising vital funds for the charity along with supporting their members with Down Syndrome on their journey within the world of work. As part of the partnership, we aim to support the charity’s aim of challenging inaccurate stereotypes that people with Down Syndrome face, and to play our part in championing acceptance and inclusion for people with Down Syndrome – specifically within the world of work.