Bloomberg reports that BHP Billiton wants women to account for half of its workforce by 2025 as the world’s top miner seeks to change the gender balance in an industry dominated by men.  

BHP has a workforce of about 65,000, including contractors, of which 18% are female.  Based on these numbers, its target would mean an additional 21,000 women employed by the middle of the next decade including both its own staff and contractors.  CEO Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement on Thursday:  “Without new initiatives it would take us 30 years just to get to 30 per cent female representation.  More must, and will, be done.  And our 2025 aspirational goal is to achieve gender balance at all levels of the organisation over the next decade.”

• Read this report by Ann Koh and David Stringer in full at Mineweb

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