Run by ShareAction and part-funded by the UK Government's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), the WDI platform allows companies to demonstrate to their investors, clients, and other stakeholders how they manage their staff and supply chain workers and show how their approach to workforce management is aligned with their business strategy.
The WDI investor coalition is made up of 50+ institutions, with more than $7.5 trillion in assets under management. Through our annual survey and engagement programme, we generate new data on workforce practices, which are signatories integrate into their investment analysis, and practical insights on how to address salient workforce issues. In 2020, 141 of the world's biggest companies took part, demonstrating their commitment to transparency – a 20 percent increase in 2019.
Designed with the input of investors, companies, trade unions, and subject matter experts, the WDI survey has been designed to gather information on the issues most crucial to decent work and human rights in the workplace. The WDI survey is aligned with other reporting frameworks, including DJSI, GRI, the UNGPs, and the SDGs, and offers a comprehensive and comparable reporting system.
Purpose
At a time of rapid change in the labour market, stark social and economic inequalities, and growing distrust in the corporate sector, investors, regulators, and consumers alike call for greater transparency. Workforce disclosure – or reporting – offers companies a way to hold a mirror to their activities, ensure their policies and practices are aligned with international standards and demonstrate publicly that their workforce practices are delivering for both the company and its workers.
To date, companies disclosing data to the WDI have provided evidence of efforts to improve health and safety standards, policies and practices related to employee wellbeing, and actions relating to supply chain management.
