Professional equality

Equality between men and women has been one of Publicis Groupe's core values since the company was founded. Respect for each and every individual is a strong component of the Group's corporate culture, based on the slogan "Viva la Différence", which recognizes and values individual singularities as assets.

The Group is strongly committed to issues of inclusion, gender equality and diversity, as reflected in corporate commitments such as the signing of UN Women's 7 Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs), or active participation in the Unsterotype Alliance with UN Women, which brings together some twenty global companies to combat stereotypes in communications campaigns.

Gender equality must be tangible and requires constant vigilance; it must exist at every level: from recruitment, through promotions and career development, to pay. Indicators show that there is still room for improvement.

In accordance with the provisions of the "Professional Future" law of September 5, 2018, Publicis France agencies with at least 50 employees have established their Index dedicated to professional equality between women and men.

The criteria used to calculate the Index are:

  • Indicator 1: gender pay gap;
  • Indicator 2*: difference in the rate of individual increases between women and men;
  • Indicator 3*: difference in promotion rates between women and men;
  • Indicator 4: percentage of female employees who received a raise after returning from maternity leave;
  • Indicator 5: number of employees of the under-represented sex among the 10 highest-paid employees.

*In companies with fewer than 250 employees, indicators 2 and 3 are merged. Individual increases and those resulting from promotions must therefore be taken into account.

To calculate the company's Indexes, we called on the services of an external consultancy which compiled all the data and ensured the accuracy and reliability of the results.

The score obtained by Publicis Conseil is 82/100.

  • Indicator 1: 27/40
  • Indicator 2: 20/20
  • Indicator 3 : 15/15
  • Indicator 4 : 15/15
  • Indicator 5: 5/10

Concerning indicator 1, the Company's objective is to reduce the gender pay gap for this indicator by 50% by 2026. Concerning indicator 5, the Company aims to achieve parity among the 10 highest earners by 2026.

The members of Publicis Conseil's executive comity have decided to monitor the evolution of this Index on a quarterly basis and to reinforce the training of management teams in unconscious bias.


Beyond the strict annual photography of the indicators and the publication of the Index for the companies concerned, the Group wants to pursue the improvement of its actions with the aim of social progress to reinforce professional equality between women and men. Publicis Groupe is convinced that equal pay for equal work is a factor of collective enrichment and sustainable performance, and a major challenge for social policy.

Publicis Groupe is also keen to raise awareness among its employees and supervisory staff of other equally important issues aimed at reinforcing professional equality between women and men: work-life balance and the fight against sexual harassment and sexist behaviour.

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