Supplier.io recently released its 2022 State of Supplier Diversity Report. It reflects a second consecutive year of heightened executive-level support for supplier diversity programs. Ninety-three percent of the respondents reported that engaging with diverse suppliers has a positive impact on their company, internally and externally.
Companies track their spending with minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, LGBTQ-owned, disabled-owned and small businesses. They spend an average of 5.9% of their budget with these suppliers. The primary motivators for supplier diversity programs are alignment with corporate culture and inclusiveness, corporate social responsibility and improving supply chain competitiveness.
However, the report found that only 38% of the respondents include supplier diversity metrics in management performance objectives. Also, many organizations do not have clearly defined goals and a spend reporting platform. In addition, 24% of the respondents have not established supplier diversity programs and 19% track their diverse supplier spend even though they have no program.
