Britain: BT publishes a company-wide Manifesto setting new inclusion targets

On 01 December, the UK telecommunications group unveiled its new plan of attack for ‘accelerating growth through tech that is responsible, inclusive and sustainable’ for the next ten years. Built on three axes namely, responsibility, inclusion, and sustainability, this programme includes a plan to have as many women as men in the company by 2030 (50/50 gender split). Again by 2030, BT, which did not provide figures on the group’s current gender split across its 100,000 employees, also aims to have 25% of employees from an ethnic minority group. In its press release BT said that it currently only 9% of employees are from a ‘non-white’ background. Finally, and again by 2030, the company will aim for 17% of headcount to be people from a background of disability. “The BT Group Manifesto is about using our scale and technology to enact real change that the world desperately needs while simultaneously growing our business by staying true to our purpose: we connect for good,” said Philip Jansen, chief executive at BT Group. The programme also calls for the company to achieve carbon neutrality in its operations by the same date (2030). The group has also committed to helping 25 million people improve their digital skills by the end of March 2026.