Wistron was awarded 4th place in the 2022 Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility for our six-pillar sustainability strategy
The Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility hosted by CommonWealth Magazine assesses the most influential sustainable companies in Taiwan in four aspects: Corporate Governance, Corporate Commitment, Social Engagement, and Environmental Sustainability. Since 2010, Wistron has been highly recognized and selected as one of the Top 100 Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Leaders for 13 years in a row. This year, Wistron achieved the best result ever by ranking fourth in the Large Enterprises Category.
Wistron's sustainability aspects include environmental protection, social inclusion, corporate governance, and innovation value (ESGI), leading the company to sustainable development and growth. In 2021, as part of Wistron’s business objectives for the next ten years, we established a new six-pillar sustainability strategy that includes sustainable supply base, green products, recycling, decarbonization, people with purpose, and labor welfare.
With the continued expansion of the technology industry and labor shortages, talent is already a scarce resource. Wistron has modified previous operational concepts about ODM methodologies and made an impact by collaborating with industry, government and academia. We invited peers to establish the Gap of Learning & Field (GOLF) to make it easier for students to transition to the workplace through industry-academia collaboration. So far, 46 universities and about 40 companies have joined the alliance, more than 3,000 people have been trained, and nearly 2,000 internship positions have been created.
Wistron is also committed to creating a diverse space for innovation by investing NT$10 billion to support more than 50 startup teams. At the same time, a startup accelerator was launched to attract startups in telemedicine, energy management and cloud services. We leverage our strengths in the ICT industry to help new startup teams access the market validation opportunities that are most lacking, demonstrating Wistron's strong support for youth employment and entrepreneurship.
In addition to the fruitful achievements in social engagement, Wistron also has outstanding performance in other aspects. In terms of corporate governance, Wistron has ranked in the top 5% of the Corporate Governance Evaluation for four consecutive years. Among the directors, there are five independent directors (which is better than the overall average of three for listed companies) and one female independent director has been elected to implement the diversity and professional independence of the Board.
In terms of corporate commitment, Wistron was awarded the Best Companies to Work for in Asia award by HR Asia. Utilizing our “Wicare” initiative as the core direction, Wistron promotes various diversity and inclusion (D&I) policies, emphasizes the importance of cultivating women in technology, provides comprehensive resources for women’s care, and subsidizes a total childbirth subsidy of NT$12.9 million. In addition, in order to achieve employee engagement and realize a happy and inclusive workplace, Wistron has invested NT$170 million in four major talent cultivation programs for employees: Digital Capabilities, Management Capabilities, Globalized Capabilities, and Sustainability.
In terms of environmental sustainability, Wistron became an official supporter of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) in 2021 and committed to Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 as a climate change policy goal. Wistron understands that innovating and developing smart green technologies is the key to achieving net zero emissions. Therefore, Wistron improves process efficiency and reduces emissions through intelligent technology, reducing manufacturing costs by 26% and energy consumption by 44%. Wistron’s factory in Kunshan has been named a “global lighthouse” by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
From the company’s establishment in 2001 to today, Wistron has always upheld the management philosophy of "altruism" as the basis for corporate sustainable management. With rapid environmental changes such as extreme climate and the COVID-19 pandemic, Wistron was driven to redefine and focus our operational strategies to integrate trending issues such as carbon neutrality, D&I, and supply chain sustainability management. In the future, Wistron will take up our mission as "Trusted Innovation Partner for Technology, Sustainability & Better Lives" and realize the vision of "Sustainability through Innovation."