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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Amgen Creates Inclusive Global Work Environment

As an international company with offices on four continents, Amgen requires all its employees to attend a diversity awareness program within their first year of employment. The biotech company has also instituted a strategy to incorporate diversity initiatives, goals and awareness events at all of its offices throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. “The diversity training is about creating an inclusive environment,” said Nadia Younes, Amgen’s director of diversity and Work-Life. Because an inclusive environment, she said, is vital to a company that has a 20,000-member cross-cultural work force; 31 percent belong to ethnic minorities and 46 percent are women. Of the officers and managers at Amgen, 39 percent are women and 25 percent belong to ethnic minorities. The company’s diversity strategy also includes development of networking affinity groups and the installation of numerous initiatives for diversity training and leadership. To implement the initiatives, Amgen has developed diversity councils at some of its offices. At the company’s Thousand Oaks site, business diversity forums are held each month for employees and company leaders. Individual speakers as well as panels address topics related to workplace diversity. Topics of the forums have included minority issues in the workplace, the challenges of conducting cross-cultural clinical trials and women’s health concerns. Some of the forums are conducted in both English and Spanish and are delivered nationally via Web casting. The company also holds special events with keynote speakers for Black History Month and for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. More than 10 percent of Amgen’s work force belongs to one or more of the company’s nine diversity networking affinity groups. The groups network together, perform community outreach, focus on professional growth and act as mentors. There are more than 25 affinity group chapters, with a women’s group starting soon in Switzerland. These include gay and lesbian, middle eastern, disabled, women’s and international affinity groups. “We have a high level of activity in these groups,” said Younes. A Diversity Leadership Summit was held last year for the leaders of the affinity groups to discuss and develop their diversity and community outreach goals. As for those goals, Younes said, “We’re proud of our progress to date, but we know we have a lot more to do.”

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