Lululemon is making progress in the realm of DEI, sustainability and employee well-being.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based athleisure brand on Tuesday shared its second annual Impact Report, which outlines the company’s progress with regards to its commitments to the environment, wellness and equity and diversity internally.
“Our progress reinforces the importance of the impact we can continue to make in the years ahead. While we remain early in our journey, one thing is clear—we are more focused than ever on bringing about thoughtful, more sustainable innovation and design, creating ways to connect and inspire, and seizing the opportunity to disrupt and lead our industry for people and planet,” CEO Calvin McDonald said in a statement.
In 2021, Lululemon said it managed to maintain gender pay equity across its entire global staff. In the U.S., the company achieved full pay equity for the fifth year in a row. In 2021, Lululemon raised starting pay for store employees in North America to between $15 to $17 per hour, depending on store location.
When it comes to DEI, Lululemon noted improvements internally compared to 2020. About 78% of employees participated in Lululemon’s 2021 demographic survey and inclusion index, which showed progress in the realm of DEI. In 2021, 38% of employees were racially diverse, up 3% from 2020. Racial diversity of of assistant store managers, directors and above increased by 2% in 2021.
Lululemon is also working on diversifying its pipeline of indirect suppliers to include companies that are at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by women and underrepresented groups. This program is set to launch by the end of 2022.
In addition to diversity, equity and inclusion, Lululemon has made major investments mental health. In October, Lululemon launched the “Centre for Social Impact,” which is meant to help the company consolidate its various wellness programs and create new tools for advocacy, philanthropy, and research, in line with the commitments outlined in its Impact Agenda.
The company said it held around 50 listening sessions in 2021, in which its CEO and other senior leaders listen to employees and determine how to support them. Additionally, 275 employees participated in Lululemon’s mental health training program, which was expanded to store managers and people leaders. The goal is to expand the program to all employees across the globe by the end of 2023. Overall, Lululemon said it equipped 1.4 million people with access to resources for wellbeing in 2021.
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