“Not representative of reality”: Women hold 40% of executive roles in packaging industry, suggests Pipeline report

01 Dec 2023 --- The eighth edition of The Pipeline’s annual “Women Count” report reveals the packaging and containers sector holds 40% women in executive leadership roles. 

The report analyzes gender parity at the executive committee level within the UK’s largest businesses — financial times-stock exchange 350 share index (FTSE350) companies. It revealed that instead of holding the most influential executive roles, such as CEO, or positions with profit and loss responsibilities, women were limited mainly to “functional” roles, such as human relations or marketing. 

“While I warmly welcome the changes that are happening with respect to gender diversity with 40% of packaging FTSE 350 companies having females on their executive committees today, it is really not representative of the reality of today’s packaging industry,” Joanna Stephenson, co-founder of Women In Packaging, tells Packaging Insights.

“In the UK alone, we have over 2,500 companies of varying sizes with the vast majority led by males and women mostly undertaking sales, marketing, customer service and human relations roles.”

Attracting women to the industry
Other industries with 40% women in influential executive roles included transport, health and insurance. On the contrary, information technology, automobile, mining and private equity appear to have under 20% female representation on their respective boards, finds The Pipeline.

Eighth edition of the “Women Count” report reveals most women are employed in “functional” positions. The report shows the packaging sector is moving toward gender parity while referencing companies such as DS Smith and Smurfit Kappa.

“Our focus needs to be on attracting women into the industry in the first place (indeed true of both genders with the aging workforce we see today) and then supporting them to grow in more operations, technical and leadership positions to ensure a sustainable and successful future for the industry,” says Stephenson.

“Offering career support, flexible working practices and being aware of unintentional biases in recruitment could go a long way in improving the statistics across the board — not just for those companies who are in the spotlight being stock market owned and under scrutiny.” 

Glass ceiling “far from being smashed”
The Women Count report found that women hold one in five commercial roles on the executive committees of FTSE350 companies. The Pipeline notes that while female representation on the board of FTSE350 companies exceeded 30% for the first time, across the FTSE350, only 9% of companies have a female CEO, up from 4% in 2019.

Similarly, 18% of the FTSE350 have a female CFO — despite women comprising nearly half of those qualifying as accountants.

Sue O’Brien OBE, chair of The Pipeline, says businesses must not “shy away” from some of these “uncomfortable” truths. “Leaders need to examine their workplace culture and ensure that their promotion procedures are truly equitable and merit-based. Taking care of, developing and investing in the workforce you already have is a priority.”Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are more likely to experience above-average profitability. 

“The glass ceiling is far from being smashed. This year’s count demonstrated that it may be cracked, but it’s still firmly in place in the majority of organizations. Respondents to our survey highlighted the need for businesses to continue to invest in leadership development to ensure women succeed at the highest level,” adds Margaret Edge, program director at The Pipeline.

Push for better products
The representation of women in the packaging industry has become an emerging topic, highlighted at the Interpack trade show this year, marking the first time Interpack discussed the issue of gender equality. 

Meanwhile, female members in the industry have been advocating for the importance of representation to help develop better packaging solutions, as women provide diverse perspectives that can lead to innovation. 

A study by McKinsey & Company found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability. 

By Sabine Waldeck