AMAZON.COM, INC. | Report on Promotion Data at AMAZON.COM, INC.

Status
18.05% votes in favour
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
7
Resolution details
Company ticker
AMZN
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Social
ESG sub-theme
  • Diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI)
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Discretionary
Company HQ country
United States
Whereas clause
Institutionalized sexism, compounded by racism, has become an undeniable, visible, widespread, and multifaceted problem in the tech industry:

The topic of sexism in the tech industry has been covered by major media outlets:


(https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/02/19/women-built-tech-industry-then-they-were-pushed-out/)


(https://www.fastcompany.com/40477163/the-industry-is-fundamentally-broken-women-on-sexism-in-silicon-valley) (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/17/sexual-harassment-silicon-valley-emily-chang-brotopia-interview)


(https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/20/the-tech-industrys-gender-discrimination-problem)


At Google, tens of thousands of workers walked off the job to protest the mishandling of sexual harassment.
(https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/technology/google-walkout-sexual-harassment.html)


The media has reported on male employees at Microsoft and Google, openly questioning the innate capacity of women to be tech workers.
(https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/google-employee-s-anti-diversity-manifesto-women-s-neuroticism-goes-n790401)
(https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/04/now-its-microsofts-turn-for-an-anti-diversity-internal-revolt)


The presence of multiple high-profile lawsuits at peer companies regarding gender discrimination or gender and race discrimination are an indication of the severity of this problem. Cases include Pao v Byers, Massouris v Microsoft, Huang v. Twitter, Hong v Facebook, Blackwell and Boyd v Salesforce, Vandermeyden v. Tesla and the Oracle case which was brought by the federal government.


Prominent social theorists assert that race and gender combine to create unique forms of discrimination.
(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberl%C3%A9_Williams_Crenshaw)

Whereas: Numerous experts have noted that institutionalized sexism, compounded by racism, hurts corporate performance:

A study of employees who left companies for reasons related to equity revealed significant costs
(https://www.smash.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/corporate-leavers-survey.pdf)


A McKinsey study revealed a correlation between more diverse leadership and superior financial performance
(https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters)


Experts have shown that women are leaving the tech industry because of lack of career advancement opportunities
(https://hbr.org/2019/10/why-techs-approach-to-fixing-its-gender-inequality-isnt-working)
(https://www.fastcompany.com/90274067/this-is-why-women-leave-jobs-in-tech)
(https://medium.com/tech-diversity-files/the-real-reason-women-quit-tech-and-how-to-address-it-6dfb606929fd)


Other analysts have shown that race combines with gender to create even greater barriers to advancement for women of color
(https://medium.com/awaken-blog/intersectionality-101-why-were-focusing-on-women-doesn-t-work-for-diversity-inclusion-8f591d196789)
(https://www.vox.com/2017/10/3/16401054/gender-race-executive-professional-roles-promotion-hiring-people-color-women)

Whereas: Gender balance among Amazon’s upper ranks is a challenge

Amazon’s overall workforce is 57.3% men and 42.7% women
(https://www.aboutamazon.com/working-at-amazon/diversity-and-inclusion/our-workforce-data)


Amazon’s managers are 72.5% men and 27.5% women
(https://www.aboutamazon.com/working-at-amazon/diversity-and-inclusion/our-workforce-data)


Amazon’s top 26 executives  –  the S-Team, and Jeff Bezos  –  are 84.6% men and 15.4% women
(https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/25/tech/amazon-first-black-executive-senior-leadership-team-bezos/index.html)

Whereas: Researchers have noted that analyzing who a company promotes is an effective way of revealing bias against women and underrepresented minorities.
(https://hbr.org/2019/10/why-techs-approach-to-fixing-its-gender-inequality-isnt-working)
(https://www.fastcompany.com/90274067/this-is-why-women-leave-jobs-in-tech)
(https://medium.com/tech-diversity-files/the-real-reason-women-quit-tech-and-how-to-address-it-6dfb606929fd)

How other organisations have declared their voting intentions

Organisation name Declared voting intentions Rationale
Dana Investment Advisors (Delisted) For
Universities Superannuation Scheme - USS Against After careful consideration, we do not believe the proponent's resolution is in the best interests of shareholders.

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