Ireland Gender Pay Gap Report

IRELAND GENDER

PAY GAP REPORT

2023

Cisco’s purpose to power an inclusive future

for all drives how we show up at work every

day, whether it’s developing new skills,

coming up with big bold ideas, or expanding

our professional horizons. Our Conscious

Culture is central to enabling our purpose and

ensures all employees feel seen, involved,

and supported within an inclusive workplace.

However, there is still more work to be done

by us and our peers to address the gender

imbalance in technology and make it a truly

inclusive industry. Here at Cisco in Ireland,

we want to be that catalyst for change. But

that change needs to start early, so we have

increased our focus on STEM in schools

across Ireland. We are taking intentional steps

to showcase role models and the exciting

possibilities for working in technology, when girls

are still considering their future career options.

This year’s Cisco Jam Hackathon saw us

embracing a diverse group of third-level

students. We organised a range of events

catering to students from primary to tertiary

education, including career insights days and

our continued sponsorship and involvement

with the 2023 Galway Science & Technology

Festival. Furthermore, by collaborating with

the broader Galway tech community, such as

the Innovation Technology AtlanTec Gateway

(ITAG) Galway, a non-prot tech organisation

dedicated to fostering technology innovation,

we expanded our capacity to engage with

both young people and their parents.

In addition, we are involved in several internal

initiatives, in order to attract and retain women

employees within Cisco. This includes active

participation by our local team in the 8th

global cohort of the Win++ women’s network.

We also sponsor Women in Tech at Cisco

in Galway, with a presence on the technical

advisory board for its global network, which

is working to boost women’s submissions

of patents through the Women’s Inventor

Network. Additionally, Cisco Ireland introduced

our rst Menopause Procedure aimed at

educating leaders on how to best support their

team members and drive employee awareness

of what benets are available.

We are proud to be executive sponsors on a

tiger team partnering with one of our inclusive

communities, Women of Cisco, to address

the gender pay gap and align around policies

to recruit and promote women employees. To

promote further awareness and engagement

in Ireland, Women of Cisco Ireland hosted

their agship 10th anniversary edition of

Women of Impact coinciding with International

Women’s Day. This involved engaging with

local innovators, such as the wheelchair

designers at Izzy Wheels, to bring together

the community to hear from inspirational

speakers about their experiences in the world

and share impactful stories of inclusion,

creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit.

As part of a wider global initiative, we

are helping to drive at a local level

Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration

(CDA) programme, designed to enable

and accelerate digital transformation

by partnering with governments and

communities. CDA funding is helping to

bring broadband access to remote places

such as Clare Island, to ensure residents

can still access the healthcare services they

need. Also, for creating digital work hubs in

rural areas, enabling more people, including

working mothers, to contribute to the

workforce and build their careers, wherever

they are located.

Cisco is deeply committed to providing digital

skills access to all and takes a leading role

in the industry when it comes to educating

and enhancing the skills of individuals at

various career stages. Over the years, more

than 40,000 students have successfully

completed Ireland’s Networking Academy

since its inception, establishing pathways

from education to employment. In the current

year, we expanded our Networking Academy

by introducing a retraining program aimed

at Ukrainian women refugees, empowering

them to enhance their digital skills and

access job opportunities. Additionally,

we introduced a Cyber-Security Camp during

the transition year, providing free online

courses to support future careers in the tech

industry.

Our commitment to enabling women to have

the best possible career experience, inside

and outside our business, was underlined by

Cisco Ireland being recognised once again

as the Best Workplace for Women, as well

as for Technology as a whole. Continually

winning these awards reects the success

of our inclusive culture, and our increasing

focus on STEM and our ability to recruit from

the community. It shows that technology

really is the industry to be in.

Shane Heraty

Cisco Managing Director,

Scotland & Ireland

Keith Grifn

Distinguished Engineer & General

Manager Cisco Galway

Intro

What is the Ireland Gender Pay Gap Report?

The Gender Pay Gap Information Act requires employers in Ireland with 250 or more

employees to publish calculations annually showing the pay gap between their employees

who identify as men and women.

What does the Ireland Gender Pay Gap measure?

The Ireland Gender Pay Gap is a basic calculation of the percentage dierence between

average hourly earnings for men and women, regardless of the work they do.

Earnings include base pay, allowances and any other bonus and incentive pay, using a

snapshot date in June 2023 and data from the preceding 12 months. For Cisco Ireland

reporting, the snapshot was 24 June 2023.

What isn’t measured?

The pay gap is not a measurement of equal pay. It is one basic measure across all jobs,

not a measure of the dierences in pay between men and women doing similar work.

As a result, this report will show a gender pay gap even if those who identify as men and

women are paid fairly in comparable roles. The unequal gender representation in more

senior technical roles, which oer higher compensation and rewards, is reected in the

gender pay gap.

Understanding the many factors inuencing

dierences in pay, and the fairness and

inclusivity of an organisation’s compensation

system is a complex issue.

At Cisco, we’ve built an innovative framework to test our complex

compensation system and its overall health. Our regular reviews look at

key factors that inuence an equitable talent environment, with the goal

of designing and delivering fair and equitable pay throughout the entire

employment life cycle.

Cisco’s innovative framework for

compensation fairness

Methodology

Whilst the Gender Pay Gap shines a light on macro

dierences in pay and representation, Cisco’s

detailed fairness reviews show that our people are

paid fairly for the specic jobs they do. Since we

have a higher representation of men in the higher

paying roles, gaps are negatively amplied using

the Gender Pay Gap Report (GPGR) methodology.

Cisco has made an ongoing commitment to fair

and equitable pay for similar work, regardless of

gender. Our approach to fair pay is based on a

more holistic and comprehensive methodology,

which takes into consideration variables that impact

pay. Beginning in 2017, Cisco has completed an

annual analysis to assess gender pay dierences

in each country. Our model compares employees

doing similar work (same location, same grade,

and similar job) and uses both quantitative and

qualitative analysis to ensure fair pay.

Delivering on Cisco’s

long-standing commitment

to compensation fairness

Methodology

We have now completed our sixth cycle of pay review

in Ireland, all of which revealed a healthy and fair pay

practice. Our 2023 fairness review resulted in Cisco

making minor salary adjustments to 0.3% of our Ireland

employee population to bring them into alignment.

In our scal 2021, we expanded our approach to Fair

Pay beyond base salary to include additional forms of

compensation fairness such as promotion, bonus, and

stock decisions made in our reward programmes.

During our most recent compensation rewards

programme, we have completed pay fairness reviews

for bonus pay-outs, stock and promotions and made

adjustments where necessary.

Because our workforce is constantly changing, pay

fairness is an ongoing commitment. We regularly

analyse data across Cisco and, where necessary, make

upward adjustments to ensure fairness.

Focus Differentiation Innovation Human Connection

As a tech company, Cisco faces some well-known challenges in growing gender

diversity, especially in higher paid technical roles. According to LinkedIn, our biggest

job family, Software Developers, are respectively only 15% women in Ireland; and

whilst Cisco is capturing slightly more than the market, a lot more fundamentally needs

to be done within the technology sector to advance representation.

Compared to our aspirations for accelerating gender diversity within these positions,

the talent market is small. Gaining a better understanding of this market is a critical

step in nding uncommon solutions to an issue that is common within our industry.

Cisco has developed a suite of real-time leadership tools and business intelligence

that are transforming our understanding of the talent market across job family and

geography. This will allow us to shift our talent strategy to create new pipelines of

diverse talent.

*LinkedIn data sourced from LinkedIn Insights, August 2023

Workforce Snapshot FY23

Ireland Overall Workforce Ireland People Leaders

Understanding the market

for diverse talent

Data & Insights

Women

Men

Women

Men

Women

Men

Women

Men

26%

74%

28%

72%

26%

74%

26%

74%

FY23 FY23

FY22 FY22

2023 Ireland Gender

Pay Gap Data & Insights

Cisco Hourly & Bonus Pay Gap Data

* For the purposes of this

analysis, a bonus is dened as

any cash payment over and

above the base salary.

Cisco Part-Time & Temporary Pay Gap Data

* For the purposes of this

analysis, a bonus is dened as

any cash payment over and

above the base salary.

Proportion of Men & Women in Each Pay Quartile

*The percentages of men

and women employees within

quartile pay bands, calculated

by dividing our total full-pay

workforce into four equal parts.

Bonus Pay Distribution

Benet-In-Kind (BIK) Distribution

*Percentage of women & men who were paid a bonus in the relevant 12 months period

*Percentage of women and men who received Benet-In-Kind in the relevant 12-month period

(any non-cash benet of monetary value provided to an employee; including the provision of a

company car, voluntary health insurance, stock options, gifts, or share purchase schemes)

Data & Insights

100%

of Cisco employees are entitled to Bonus Pay and

Benet-in-Kind if they meet the eligibility criteria.

100%

of women were paid

a bonus

98.9%

of women were paid

Benet-In-Kind (BIK)

98.5%

of men were paid

a bonus

97.8%

of men were paid

Benet-In-Kind (BIK)

Women Men Women 2022 vs 2023

Upper 16.9% 83.1% +0.8%

Upper Middle 19.1% 80.9% -0.5%

Lower Middle 28.1% 71.9% -1.2%

Lower 35.6% 64.4% +6.3%

2023 2022

Part-Time mean gender pay gap -13.2% -2.6%

Part-Time median gender pay gap 7.0% 15.0%

Temporary mean gender pay gap 0% 3.6%

Temporary median gender pay gap 0% 0%

2023 2022

Mean gender pay gap 22.4% 22.0%

Median gender pay gap 29.2% 22.3%

Mean gender bonus gap 31.6% 30.4%

Median gender bonus gap 36.6% 39.4%

Understanding the Data

Data & Insights

A pay gap identied through the GPGR process

shows a very broad overview of a gender pay

comparison across the organisation without

consideration of the actual work performed by the

employees of their level or work history in and out

of Cisco. Whilst gender pay gaps identied via

GPGR can be eective at placing a spotlight on

an important industry and cultural issue, additional

factors must be considered to better understand

whether men and women within an organisation

are paid fairly for doing similar work.

This year’s report revealed a widening of our

statutory gender pay gaps. Through our own

internal analysis, we attribute this to our growth of

women representation predominately in the lower

pay bands, including early in career hires like our

Engineering graduate programmes and Cisco Sales

Associate Programme which has the eect of

widening the overall mean and median pay gaps.

This shift happens because a predominance of our

newly hired women are at lower grade levels, and

hence sit in our lowest reporting quartile which pulls

down Women Median and Mean data. On a positive

note, we have accelerated our overall representation of

women in people leadership roles, which positions us

well for the future.

In light of continuing challenges surrounding hiring

diverse talent in the tech market, we hosted events like

our Cisco Jam, a hackathon at our Galway site which

welcomed second year students from a wide range of

educational institutions: University of Galway, Atlantic

Technological University (ATU), Athlone Institute of

Technology and University of Limerick. This year was

also our Cisco UK & Ireland Annual Insights Day where

160+ students were hosted from 7 schools across 5

Cisco sites with 79% students voting that they would

consider a career in tech after attending. We also

introduced STEM ambassadors across all levels of

education who are positive role models using Cisco’s

Time2Give benet to help to continue to bring STEM

subjects to life for a wide diverse audience.

Cisco interprets the gaps identied through this

reporting process as indicators of a well-known

challenge – a gap between the numbers of men

and women in higher paying jobs. Closing this gap

continues to be a key area of focus and we now

have a tiger team partnering even more closely with

our Women of Cisco Inclusive community focusing

on workstreams to address the gender pay gap.

Cisco’s detailed fairness reviews continue to show

that our people are paid fairly for the specic jobs

they do.

Accelerating the Pace

At Cisco, our commitment to inclusion

compels us to act boldly and deliberately to

accelerate fairness, inclusion, and equitable

access to opportunity. In 2023, we have

seen both progress and new possibilities

arise. In Ireland, accelerating solutions for

full spectrum diversity and closing gender

gaps across the board are top priorities,

particularly within key sales and technical

positions. Our industry and workplaces are

evolving rapidly with elements inuencing

hiring practices such as hybrid work

and employee selectivity. These factors

accelerate the need to understand all factors

in the attraction and retention of talent.

In this post-pandemic world, the company

has placed a strong focus on building

inclusion into the new hybrid workplace. At

Cisco, we believe “Work is not a place you

go. It’s what you do.”- Francine Katsoudas,

Cisco Executive Vice President and Chief

People, Policy & Purpose Ocer. We are

working in a way that is more exible, more

innovative and more inclusive. A world that

oers employees and teams more autonomy

in choosing how and where they do their

work. Our culture, policies, and practices

focus on outcomes versus location or hours

worked, aligning with our goal for hybrid

work to play to each individual’s strengths

and create an experience of work that allows

every employee to thrive. Not only do we

believe this will benet our existing employees,

it will also widen our applicant talent pools,

and help in curbing attrition by providing much

needed support and exibility.

Hiring:

At the start of FY24, Cisco’s workforce was

26.2% women. The main driver has been

a consistent focus on hiring a more diverse

workforce, one we intend to build upon.

To deliver on our commitment to addressing the

gender gap, we are shifting both skillsets and

mindsets when it comes to searching for and

interviewing candidates. Our mindset around

hiring quickly has shifted to a focus on spending

more time by taking on a more extensive search

to unlock a wider candidate pool, and to be

even more conscious about diverse interview

and candidate slates. This can be evidenced

in the recent accolade awarded to our UK and

Ireland Women of Cisco Inclusive Community,

Best Diversity Recruitment Initiative of the Year

2023 – awarded by CRN Women and Diversity

in Channel Awards. Additionally, Women of

Cisco UK and Ireland recently introduced a new

board role - Inclusive Hiring Advisor – enabling

even closer partnership around hiring campaigns

between the business and our inclusive

communities.

We continue to challenge the status quo of

diversity by engaging with our own leaders, or

those in industry who represent diverse groups,

to ensure an inclusive approach to hiring. We

provide diversity training for our recruiting

and hiring managers to educate them about

the benets of diversity and to help eliminate

unconscious bias in the hiring process - this

includes mandatory interview training to conduct

and assess consistent quality interviews.

Attrition:

External research on attrition highlights the

stress and domestic workload both women

and men face as carers. This stress has been

heightened during the lock-down periods

and is beginning to be reected in their

career perspectives and physical and mental

well-being, and even inuencing the “great

resignation”.

To support our employees who act as carers,

we provide a range of benets that help meet

the needs of modern families:

• Critical Time O – with up to 4 weeks’

paid leave for unforeseen absence, and

separate to annual leave

• Flexible work packages

• A free care concierge service to support

employees caring for the elderly or those

with complex needs

• Back-up care for child or adult dependants

• Employee and Family Assistance

Programme which is universally available

and provides 24/7 access to counselling

Promotions:

In our most recent rewards programme,

women were as likely as men to receive a

promotion in Ireland. Cisco’s promotion parity

initiatives, as well as many other successful

leadership development programmes to help

women develop in their careers, have proven

to be highly eective over time.

2023 marked the 10-year anniversary of

Cisco’s top global women’s leadership

programmes originating in EMEA – DARE

and Jump. DARE, an introductory solution

for women early in career focuses on self-

discovery and professional development for

emerging leaders, with more than 900 active

alumni. Jump, with over 1700 global alumni,

supports promotion and retention for women

in leadership roles. Additionally, we have our

industry-leading sponsorship initiative called

The Multiplier Eect. As outlined in the 2022

Cisco Purpose Report, feedback around

programmes such as Jump indicate that these

contribute to both a desire to stay at Cisco,

and the ability to earn promotions throughout

their career. In addition, employees with

sponsors through the global Multiplier Eect

initiative are more likely to be promoted than

those who do not.

Progress

Engaging the tech leaders of tomorrow

We believe inspiring young people to pursue careers in technology can be a signicant driver in closing the gender gap.

Cisco Ireland is involved in a number of programmes designed to connect with early talent:

P-Tech and Girls in IT: This programme integrates a college level qualication with a standard secondary school curriculum,

creating partnerships between schools, higher education and businesses. Cisco Ireland has participated in the programme

since its introduction to Ireland in 2018. In 2023, team members oered mentoring sessions and supported students though

a 5-week work placement in the Cisco oce. Being in the oce was a wonderful opportunity to enhance the internship

experience and allowed the interns to relax into the Cisco culture to fully benet from the placement. This is in addition to

our annual Girls in IT event held globally and locally in UK and Ireland, hosted by Women of Cisco. During this fun-lled day,

students learn about Cisco, various jobs and entry paths, and develop core skills with the goal of encouraging diverse female

talent to consider STEM subjects and careers. In 2023 an event was held at 6 sites in the UK and Ireland including Galway.

Business in the Community: The Minister for Education and Minister for Special Education recently announced a pilot

programme to support the transition for young people with disabilities to improve access to, and opportunities for, post-

school options. Cisco has signed up to be a champion of this initiative, engaging with the Departments of Education and

Social Protection, SOLAS, the National Council for Special Education, the HSE and other service providers and non-prots

to provide support to students with special needs in their last year of post-primary school (senior cycle in mainstream

secondary schools).

STEM Sponsorship: Our STEM Ambassadors are positive role models, giving their time through our Time2Give benet, as

they continue to bring STEM subjects to life for a wide diverse audience, through events such as our Cisco Jam Hackathon,

or the Transition Year week-long program. Furthermore, this year we have introduced a transition year Cyber-Camp which

oers free, online, self-paced exploratory courses that illuminate the way to a career in tech available to all. Cisco Ireland

continue to sponsor and actively participate in external events such as the Science Tech Exhibition Fair, which amplies the

impacts of STEM to over 30,000 students, and the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, targeting primary and

secondary school students.

Progress

“Our ideas are long term, dealing with schools, secondary schools

and early University, when career choices are made. We try and

inuence people towards the type of careers we have; show what

we do on a day to day basis, show roles models from our Women of

Cisco community and other groups that people can relate to, and be

that catalyst that says “I want to do that job”

Keith Grin, Distinguished Engineer & General Manager Cisco Galway

At Cisco we are committed to cultivating

an inclusive work environment where

employees can thrive and innovate

together. Our Emerging Talent Network

is one of our 28 Inclusive Communities,

where new and early-career employees

can come together to network, develop

leadership skills, and serve as change

agents.

Mishita Kesarwani is a Software Engineer,

and an active member of our Emerging

Talent Network. She joined Cisco after

moving from India and completing her

master’s degree in computer science at

the University of Galway. “I initially joined

the Emerging Talent community to meet

new people. Once I started attending the

various events and talks, it opened my

eyes to the wide variety of backgrounds

and cultures within the Cisco community,

that weren’t too dissimilar to my own.”

Since joining the Emerging Talent

community, Mishita has been inspired to

get involved with various local community

outreach projects designed to educate

young people on the exciting opportunities

a career in STEM can provide. She

explained: “I have loved getting involved

with Cisco’s STEM Scratch programme,

which involves going into local junior

schools and teaching 8–9-year-olds the

basics of coding and what a career in tech

actually looks like. I know my younger

self would have loved the opportunity to

participate in this kind of programme. I’m

grateful to play a small part in inspiring

the next generation and showing them

that a career in tech is for people from all

backgrounds”.

As well as inspiring new talent, Mishita

has also benetted from being mentored

herself through Cisco’s Optimise Prime

Inspiring future Cisconians

Progress

for Engineering programme. As part of

this scheme, she was matched up with a

mentor based on her strengths and career

aspirations. She added: “I was keen to

develop my soft skills and also learn more

about data analytics and the history of the

innovative Cisco technology that I work

with every day. My mentor was an expert

in this area and was so generous with her

time and connecting me with others in the

business to learn more.”

Cisco is at the forefront of creating the

technology of the future. I am proud to play

a role in the teams shaping the technologies

that are having real impact in our local

schools, hospitals and communities. Having

the opportunity to work with inspiring leaders,

who share their knowledge and connections

and value our individual contributions, is what

makes Cisco a great place to work.

Mishita Kesarwani

Software Engineer

Cisco didn’t just build the Internet. We

keep building it. And while our technology

helps to connect the unconnected and

inspires the world — that’s not where our

edge comes from. It comes from our

people. We are committed to cultivating a

culture where all people feel welcomed,

valued, respected, accepted, and heard.

udrey Bleach joined Cisco Ireland in 2021

as Engagement Manager, working within

the People & Communities team to deliver

an exceptional employee experience for

every single member of the Cisco Ireland

community. When the opportunity came

up to join the Cisco team during the

pandemic, Audrey jumped at the chance.

She explained: “I remember when Cisco

Galway site rst opened in 2007. There’s

always a buzz in the city when a new

business opens, but there was something

extra special about Cisco and what it

represented for our community. Even

though my interview and onboarding

experience was fully remote via Webex,

I immediately felt welcomed and knew I

had found a company that aligned with my

people-rst values”.

Since joining, Audrey has played a key

role in Cisco’s multiple award-winning

‘Great Place to Work’ submissions. For

Audrey and her team, these employee-

voted accolades represent much more

than the prestige and awards dinners.

She said: “As an engagement leader,

the awards submission process oers

an invaluable opportunity to get a pulse

check and see if we are delivering on our

commitment to create an inclusive and

diverse culture. We want to make sure

every one of our 80,000 employees can

be their whole selves and get the best

career experience”.

As a result of employee pulse checks

during the pandemic, the People &

Communities team learnt that Cisco

employees were craving connection

with their colleagues at a time when

many felt very isolated. There was

also a desire to learn more about the

inspiring, innovative work being done

across the business. Audrey shared: “We

Elevating every employee’s experience

Progress

subsequently introduced our ‘Internal Demo

Day’, which involves a showcase by teams

across the business of projects they have

been working on. This day encourages

employees to connect, ideate and inspire

each other.”

As one of the leading forces in connecting

the world, here at Cisco we understand our

unique opportunity to bring communities

together and create meaningful change for

everyone, everywhere. This starts and ends

with our people.

When I was oered my role at Cisco, I didn’t

have to think twice about accepting. I knew

I had found an organisation aligned with my

own values, with a team that would champion

and celebrate my successes. Inclusivity is at

the heart of everything we do at Cisco, from

our products to our people. We want to create

a company that people are proud to work for,

where they feel valued, understood and aren’t

afraid to make mistakes.

Audrey Bleach

Engagement Manager,

People & Culture

Operations Leader

Cisco is proud of the fact that 11% of its

employees have been at the company

for more than two decades. We believe

this is testament to our clear purpose of

powering an inclusive future for all, and

the way we promote our values and evolve

our culture to ensure every employee is

thriving, well supported, and bringing their

whole self to work each day.

Following a career in investment banking in

London, Mary Moloney returned to Ireland

and has worked at Cisco for the last 23

years. She takes pride in the global career

she has built from Dublin ever since she

joined. “Success at Cisco doesn’t depend

on location. I didn’t need to move to the US

to reach this point in my professional life,

thanks to the many exciting opportunities

that have come my way.”

For Mary, one of the best things about

working at Cisco is the ability to balance

building her career, raising her family of

four children, and devoting time to her

personal passion projects. Mary said:

“I use my Time to Give days to support

causes and charities that really matter to

me, including promoting adult education

and tackling homelessness. This exibility

means I feel so much more fullled as a

person.”

A particular career highlight for Mary is the

two years she spent on the global nance

committee leading Diversity and Inclusion

initiatives for over 25,000 people. She

helped drive eorts to attract and foster

the skills of diverse talent from across the

globe, starting at schools and universities.

Mary explained: “It is amazing to see

the positive impact of our work on local

communities. For example, by creating

opportunities for women in countries

where traditionally it’s not acceptable to

work after having children. Our education

programmes are empowering them to be

both mothers and professionals, changing

perceptions and transforming lives.”

Carving out a unique career path

Progress

Cisco gives every employee the tools to

identify and leverage their unique strengths,

enabling them to step outside their comfort

zone and take bold steps. “You are actively

encouraged to nd a gap and create your

own role, by building your relationships

and communicating your intentions to a

receptive audience within our culture of

transparency and listening. My belief is the

role you start in shouldn’t be the one you

leave behind,” added Mary.

Despite studying economics and having

a background in nance, I have had the

chance to forge my own career path

in technology here at Cisco. Although

working in technology sounds intimidating,

it needn’t be when you consider digital

innovation drives everything we now do. So,

if you’re prepared to think dierently about

the industry, you’ll spot opportunities you

wouldn’t have otherwise thought about, and

get to create the career you choose.

Mary Moloney

Senior Director,

Global Credit & Risk

Changing the equation for diverse talent through The

Multiplier Eect

Cisco has long advocated sponsorship as one of the most powerful ways leaders can connect,

advocate, and accelerate the careers of talented employees. In 2017, we introduced The

Multiplier Eect, a pledge that leaders can take to sponsor a person dierent from themselves

and support their career advancement—and challenge their peers to do the same.

Globally, 100 percent of Cisco Vice Presidents have taken the pledge. Additionally, 59% of

Directors and 33% of People Managers have pledged – exceeding our global goals of 40% and

20% respectively. More importantly, The Multiplier Eect delivered outcomes for sponsees. Our

data shows that employees who gain sponsors through the initiative are, on average, 1.5x more

likely to be promoted than those who do not.

Engaging and connecting through Inclusive

Communities:

Over 25,000 employees globally and 140+ in Ireland participate in Cisco’s Inclusive Communities

— a group of 29 employee-led groups that help our people connect within the community and

among allies. Our Women of Cisco, Back to Business, and Special Children’s Network amongst

others, provide focused support for our Ireland employees and drive their own unique strategies

to support full-spectrum diversity, and work together across our global enterprise to drive

engagement and create a more Conscious Culture. In scal year 2023, we added more than

4,250 new members globally—a growth rate of 19.9% at a time when all participation was virtual.

Our UK and Ireland Women of Cisco Inclusive Community continued to grow to 454 members.

We’ve also continued to accelerate and expand the way we drive impact across our business,

our employees, and our communities.

Progress

“Looking forward, we continue to prioritise the key areas around

attracting, retaining and developing our top talent as we move

forward. We will continue with activities and initiatives with the

same increased focus and rigour we’ve had over the last year.”

Shane Heraty, Cisco Managing Director, Scotland & Ireland