Pride is Year-round at Waters

Pride Employee Circle Co-Chairs

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three colleagues sit outside laughing holding a pride flag

As we celebrate Pride in the United States this month, we are as excited as ever to reaffirm the year-round support at Waters for our LGBTQIA+ community and their allies. We believe it’s particularly important this year to express how much we value and embrace our transgender colleagues.

Waters is a global organization with more than 8,200 employees in 35 countries. Respect for everyone’s individual journey is fundamental to our support of LGBTQIA+ colleagues, and we recognize that — at some organizations — embarking on an individual journey alongside coworkers of such various cultures, customs, and norms can feel daunting.

At Waters, diversity is a statement, inclusion is an act, and within our walls — regardless of facility or region — everyone is welcome. As you are. For who you are. You belong.

Our approach is designed to shift mindsets

We have had the privilege of co-chairing the Pride employee resource group since its inception at the company in 2019, and we are proud to have grown it to more than 125 members in four years. We’ve done so practically, by weaving our support of LGBTQIA+ employees and their allies into our culture and ways of working, and by creating a psychologically safe environment in which people can be, explore, and evolve their authentic selves.

In fact, our operating principles at Waters are to work with teams we like, respect, and trust while solving problems that matter and making unique contributions to the world. Fostering an inclusive workplace and becoming more representative of the society we live in is core to our Environmental, Social, and Governance strategy.

Our inclusivity helps empower us to be more innovative. This is how we shape the future of our organization and fuel our ability to improve human health and well-being.

We have accomplished a lot in a short amount of time

Since we raised our first Pride flag four years ago, Waters has:

  • Created a community where you can bring your whole self to work.
  • Added resources for parents and caregivers to care for loved ones who might identify as LGBTQIA+.
  • Hosted impactful conversations and connected each other around the world for members of the LGBTQIA+ community and their current and future allies to raise awareness and support growth and learning.
  • Established non-discrimination policies and gender transition guidelines.
  • Created a benefits guide for our LGBTQIA+ employees and their families highlighting our leading and inclusive U.S. benefits that support them.
  • Installed gender-neutral restrooms in the United States and the United Kingdom.
  • Established partnerships with two leading LGBTQIA+ organizations: Greater Boston PFLAG in the United States and Stonewall in the United Kingdom.
  • Been recognized multiple times for LGBTQIA+ workplace equality by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Most recently, we received the highest score of 100 percent on its Corporate Equality Index.
  • Partnered with Out in Tech, the world’s largest non-profit community of LGBTQIA+ technology leaders, to gain access to recruitment pipelines of talent.

Happy Pride to our employees, customers, and partners in the United States! To our global community, here’s to another year-long celebration of inclusion, respect, and belonging — no matter where you are in the world, you are always welcome at Waters.

Additional Resources:

Blog: Turning Energy, Passion, and Allyship into Action and Outcomes: Perfect Score from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation

Blog: Empowering Waters Employees to Be Their Authentic Selves