FEMSA

With over a century of experience in the industry, FEMSA has 390,000 employees around 18 countries. Its size goes hand in hand with its community impact, making their commitment and passion for gender equality all the more fundamental. From transforming workplaces, promoting childcare services and infrastructure, to gender-equitable awareness raising on public-facing channels, FEMSA fosters gender equality through multiple strategies. FEMSA has set the goal to increase female representations in managerial positions by 20 percent by 2030. Because FEMSA takes Sustainability as a core element of who they are, their Sustainability Strategy includes mechanisms for executive management accountability, such as sustainability metrics, rewards and incentives for the Executive team. FEMSA is also a member of several sustainable performance evaluation indexes. 

FEMSA includes in its Human and Labor Rights: a) work environments free from discrimination based on gender, pregnancy, gender identity and sexual condition, amongst others; b) the need for inclusive environments; c) condemning and punishing all types of harassment, violence and bullying. 

Our Initiatives

FEMSA’s sensitivity to early parents’ needs is proven by allowing flexible work arrangements and hybrid work schemes as well as providing childcare services at the workplace, such as lactating rooms for breastfeeding. FEMSA also provides for parental leave in accordance with specific country regulations, which translates into 17 out of 18 countries FEMSA is present have parental leave implemented. In 2023 across all facilities, 4,596 women employees took maternity leave as opposed to 661 men, with with 80 percent of women and 95 percent of men returning to work after parental leave ended. 

“For me, the family of collaborators at FEMSA is the center of everything we do in this organization. If we take care of them – if they are protected and in balance, in terms of all the facets of their personal and professional well being – then they become the most powerful asset we have to best serve our clients, our consumers, our communities, and, in turn, to serve as a key input to FEMSA’s model of value creation for years to come.”

– Raymundo Yutani, Vice-President of Human Resources

With the aim to promote safe spaces where children can spend quality family time, Fundación FEMSA partnered with Tecnológico de Monterrey inaugurating The Early Childhood Center. It focuses on the first five years of life by working on research, education, linkages and communication and dissemination. Only in 2023, 53 public spaces in nine Latin America countries were opened. 

Supporting Positive Masculinity

Since FEMSA’s Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion [JEDI] pillars put emphasis on equity in 2021, they have implemented employee training on human rights, policies and procedures. In 2023, 127,927 employees participated in the Code of Ethics training; 122,569 employees participated in Human and Labor Right Policy training and 39,013 employees participated on Discrimination, Harassment and prevention training programs. Out of all employers who participated, 55 percent of those trained were men. 

In order to engage with fathers, future fathers and caregivers, FEMSA Foundation launched a capacity building method with tools and relevant information called “Comenzando Juntos.”

Measuring Gender Equality

FEMSA uses several indicators to monitor the progress towards gender equality within the group of companies. The representation of women by activity sector and disaggregated data by gender are reported in a transparent manner on their website. 

Future Commitments and Initiatives

One of the ambitious FEMSA’s corporate goals has to do with granting 100 percent of employees with access to psychosocial support systems by 2030. In this regard, FEMSA has already managed to reach 81 percent of their employees by the end of 2023. Another corporate goal is to reach 40 percent of women in executive positions by 2030, having reached 30 percent of the target by the end of 2023.