I am pleased to announce that Micron is one of the first semiconductor companies to join The Valuable 500 — a global community of leaders who are revolutionizing disability inclusion in their workplaces.1 As part of our pledge, Micron is focusing on the rights and goals of people with disabilities.
What is The Valuable 500 and why did Micron join?
The Valuable 500 is a business initiative that leverages the influence of corporations in national and international markets to ignite change and support the 1.3 billion people living with disabilities around the world.
Launched at the January 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, The Valuable 500 is dedicated to radically transforming the business system across the whole supply chain for the benefit of all those with disabilities. In two years, 400 CEOs have joined this community.
The decision to join The Valuable 500 comes directly from Micron leadership.
“Fostering diversity, equality and inclusion is at the heart of Micron’s vision. By signing The Valuable 500 pledge, we’re adding our voice to a global movement to lead and inspire positive change,” said Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. “Building disability inclusion in the technology industry cannot be achieved alone; leaders must collaborate and hold themselves accountable.”
This initiative is part of Micron’s ongoing diversity, equality and inclusion efforts to aid in the success of team members from underrepresented groups and strengthen our culture of inclusion inside and outside the company.
Our pledge helps create an opportunity for all to thrive
We believe our solutions should enrich life for all, not just for some. That’s why our vision statement defines our commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion: “Transforming how the world uses information to enrich life for all.”
Micron recently launched a series of allyship programs organized and guided by employee resource groups (ERGs) such as Capable, our ERG for team members with disabilities and their allies. Our Capable ERG fosters a workplace where seen and unseen disabilities are embraced.
We are strengthening internal collaboration and partnerships among our seven Capable ERG chapters around the world and our senior leadership team. By unlocking these partnerships, we have identified ways to accommodate those with impairments by providing access to resources, technical assistance and support to ensure all team members can perform their best work.
For example, we improved access to facilities, created smart badges and implemented closed-caption features in office tools. In addition, some of our leaders have trained in sign language to increase our ability to hire and support people with hearing loss.
Micron’s inclusive hiring practices are benefiting our workplaces and the communities we call home. I am proud that we have increased support for diverse hiring initiatives for people with disabilities in countries around the world. We now provide trained candidate allies during interviews to ensure that they are conducted fairly for those with disabilities and to help overcome any unconscious stereotypes we may have. And we are providing global allyship training to all team members, with successful completion linked to incentive pay.
These efforts are making a difference. More than 7.2% of Micron team members now self-report living with a disability on companywide surveys — up 4% from the previous year.
Micron is taking bold steps to promote diversity, equality and inclusion
Pledges on behalf of The Valuable 500 are examples of Micron’s commitment to increasing support for underrepresented groups and to strengthening our workplace culture of inclusion.
We are taking ambitious steps to engage with people with disabilities and promote a respectful, active and welcoming environment for all to thrive. Leading the charge with organizations such as The Valuable 500 is a milestone in our important journey to make lasting change.
1 To join The Valuable 500, a company needs the CEO to table disability inclusion on its board agenda, make one firm commitment to action, and share the commitment to The Valuable 500 internally and externally. To date, the combined revenue of The Valuable 500’s current members has reached over $5 trillion, and the members encompass 55 sectors and employ more than 12.8 million people across 31 countries.
