WarnerMedia’s global workforce is closing in on gender parity, but there is still much progress to be made when it comes to racial equity and representation in the company’s entertainment productions, according to an inclusion and diversity report released by WarnerMedia on Thursday.
For the company’s global workforce, 46% identify as female while 54% identify as male, according to the report, while 38% of its U.S. workforce are non-white. Looking specifically at Warner’s entertainment arms — which includes HBO and Warner Bros. — women made up 34% of on-screen roles in 2018, while people of color were cast in 24% of on-screen roles. Behind the camera, women and people of color held 23% of the positions. In Warner Bros.’ film productions, people of color were featured in 16% of U.S. on-screen roles and employed in 20% of the behind-the-camera positions. Meanwhile, women made up 28% of the studio’s U.S. and global on-screen roles and 24% of the behind-the-camera positions.
The report comes one year after WarnerMedia announced a company-wide inclusion policy that pledges to “use best efforts to ensure that diverse actors and crew members are considered for film, television and other projects, and to work with directors and producers who also seek to promote greater diversity and inclusion in our industry.” The company has also acknowledged that the report should be considered as “interim,” as TheWrap reported earlier this month, given that it only tracks markers of identity like gender and race. But as WarnerMedia continues to release an annual version of this report, the company said in its announcement that it was developing “new processes, tools and formats for gathering more detailed information about the diversity of its workforce and productions, allowing it to better tailor its efforts and outreach.”
Company-wide, the report also showed that half of new hires and promotions to positions like vice president and above were for women, though that percentage drops to 24% when it comes to people of color. As a whole, over 61% of WarnerMedia’s U.S. workforce is white.
“We have a longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion, and consider these values an important part of our culture and a business priority,” WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey said in a statement. “While I’m incredibly proud of what this report shows and our ongoing dedication to transparency, I recognize that we’ve got more work to do at every level. We know diversity, inclusion and belonging are important to our employees, our creative partners, our customers and to our success.”
Read the full report here.