At Wayfair, we are committed to embedding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) across all aspects of our organization, and we know that transparency and accountability are crucial to driving real change. That is why today, we are proud to introduce “ Change Starts at Home,” our first-annual DEI report. This report captures the foundational improvements and new initiatives we have launched to accelerate this important work in 2020, as well as our representation data, which spans across 16 dimensions of diversity. This data is global and includes all Wayfair employees because it is important to us that everyone is represented in all of our DEI considerations and conversations.
According to KeyAnna Schmiedl, Wayfair’s Global Head of Culture & Inclusion, “‘Change Starts at Home’ is much more than a title. It’s weaving a fabric of change within our company. It’s tough, must-have conversations. It’s understanding community issues. It’s sharing experiences. And most importantly, it’s the self-reflection that centers on doing the right thing for our people, our customers, our partners, our work, and the communities we serve.”
The namesake of this report stems from a panel discussion among our employees, executives, co-founders, and members of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Initially, it provided a forum for real discussions around the experiences of our Black colleagues after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, and it quickly grew into something bigger. With topics like pride and intersectionality, disability awareness and accessibility, women’s equality, Latinx heritage, and Native American heritage, employees are invited to speak about their experiences and listen and learn from the experiences of their colleagues.
At Wayfair, our DEI journey has been years in the making and we are publishing “Change Starts At Home” because we believe that self-reflection is also crucial to progress. We are committed to holding ourselves accountable as we identify opportunity areas, set goals for improvement, and track our progress over time. By sharing this data, and our ambitious DEI agenda, we are unlocking the tools and transparency necessary to make meaningful change.
As a technology company, data drives everything we do at Wayfair, and our commitment to DEI is no exception. In fact, our DEI data is always available for our managers to access, providing them with a more informed perspective within their own teams and across the organization. “Change Starts At Home” highlights everything from our formulaic approach to pay equity to how we leverage advanced analytics and machine learning techniques such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) to detect bias in our hiring process and in performance reviews. In addition to being inclusive in how we hire, we are laser-focused on creating a more equitable career ladder for our entire team.
As we reflect on the many challenges of the past year, particularly as we have relived the painful memory of the murder of George Floyd, and continue to see an uptick in violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, our commitment to DEI is more important than ever. As KeyAnna noted, “Change Starts at Home'' is more than a title, and our report is more than a representation of our employees or an overview of our DEI strategies. This report reinforces our commitment to this important work, it showcases the breadth and depth of our training and education across all levels and departments, and it lays out the infrastructure we are building upon to drive progress long-term.
Those are just some of the areas we cover in “Change Starts at Home,” and there is so much more inside that we’re excited to share with the world. We’re proud of what we have accomplished and when it comes to our long-term commitment to DEI - we are never done. We’ll continue to release these reports annually, track our progress and hold ourselves accountable every step of the way.
At Wayfair, we are committed to embedding diversity, equity and inclusion across all aspects of our organization. Read more about Wayfair’s commitment to DEI here.