Nearly 56% of employees say there are not enough diversity and inclusion efforts in their workplace, and 30% of employees report they have personally experienced discrimination at work. In sales settings, the numbers also reveal gaps in belonging, fairness, and leadership accountability, from pay concerns to ineffective or unenforced DEI initiatives. This post breaks down the statistics to show what sellers and employers are facing and what that means for performance, retention, and trust.
Key Takeaways
- 33% of LGBTQ+ people in the US report they have been discriminated against at work (U.S. survey)
- 43% of Black workers say they have experienced discrimination at work (US)
- 48% of Hispanic adults report experiencing discrimination in the workplace (US)
- US Census Bureau: 58.8% of sales and office occupations workers are White alone (2022 ACS 1-year; occupation-specific)
- US Census Bureau: 21.3% of sales and office occupations workers are Black alone (2022 ACS 1-year)
- US Census Bureau: 15.4% of sales and office occupations workers are Hispanic or Latino (2022 ACS 1-year)
- 76% of job seekers consider a diverse workforce to be important when evaluating companies (survey)
- 67% of employees say diversity and inclusion matters for innovation (survey)
- 35% of employees report improved performance after DEI training (survey)
- 2020 Catalyst report: women in sales were 31% of sales leadership in Fortune 500 (report figure)
- Gartner: women are 28% of sales leadership at large tech firms (figure)
- Korn Ferry: senior sales leadership representation of underrepresented groups is 15% (figure)
- 62% of sales leaders say their company has a DEI strategy (survey)
- 73% of companies report having a code of conduct that includes discrimination/harassment (survey)
- 81% of employees say anti-harassment training should be mandatory (survey)
Sales workplaces still lack inclusion, with widespread discrimination reports and business impacts.
Related reading
- Diversity Equity And Inclusion In IndustryDiversity Equity And Inclusion In The Financial Industry Statistics
- Diversity Equity And Inclusion In IndustryDiversity Equity And Inclusion In The Big Data Industry Statistics
- Diversity Equity And Inclusion In IndustryDiversity Equity And Inclusion In The Real Estate Industry Statistics
- Diversity Equity And Inclusion In IndustryDiversity Equity And Inclusion In The Promotional Products Industry Statistics
01 · Category
Workplace Discrimination & Inclusion30 stats
01
33% of LGBTQ+ people in the US report they have been discriminated against at work (U.S. survey)https://www.gallup.com/analytics/389770/lgbtq-people-discrimination-workplace.aspx
02
43% of Black workers say they have experienced discrimination at work (US)https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/11/07/discrimination-in-america/
03
48% of Hispanic adults report experiencing discrimination in the workplace (US)https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/05/10/discrimination-in-america/
04
38% of Asian adults report experiencing discrimination at work (US)https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/05/10/discrimination-in-america/
05
56% of employees say there are not enough diversity and inclusion efforts in their workplace (survey)https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-the-data-says-about-diversity-in-the-workplace
06
68% of employees consider inclusive workplaces to be importanthttps://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/news/2022-11-10/what-consumers-think-about-inclusive-marketing
07
62% of LGBTQ+ employees report feeling out of place at work (US)https://www.themuse.com/advice/lgbtq-workplace-discrimination-statistics
08
58% of employees say they do not see fairness in pay practices (US)https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/equal-pay-report/
09
53% of employees say they would not recommend their workplace due to culture issues including diversity (survey)https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/business/en-us/campaigns/2021/workplace-learning-solutions/LinkedIn-Workplace-Learning-Report.pdf
10
39% of employees report they have seen discrimination in their workplace (survey)https://www.adeccousa.com/employer/resources/diversity-inclusion-survey/
11
38% of employees report that they have been harassed in the workplace because of their identity (survey)https://www.eeoc.gov/data/harassment
12
46% of women report feeling pressure to “fit in” at work (global survey)https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/the-state-of-women-in-the-workplace
13
42% of employees feel D&I initiatives are ineffective (survey)https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/diversity-inclusion-survey_tcm18-14213.pdf
14
55% of employees say a diverse workforce is important when evaluating employers (survey)https://www.nationalmedia.com/what-job-seekers-value/
15
44% of workers say their company does not have the right culture for inclusion (survey)https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/ipsos-publications/diversity-inclusion-in-the-workplace
16
30% of employees have personally experienced discrimination at work (UK)https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/ipsos-uk/equality-and-discrimination-in-the-workplace
17
28% of employees say they are not comfortable sharing ideas due to lack of inclusion (survey)https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/insights/industry/human-capital/talent-outlook/deloitte-talent-survey
18
27% of employees report they have been excluded from opportunities at work (survey)https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/people-organization/publications/employee-experience-survey.html
19
23% of employees report they have faced discrimination related to disability at work (survey)https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/workplace-disability-discrimination.html
20
26% of workers with disabilities report workplace discrimination (US)https://www.eeoc.gov/policy-guidance/technical-assistance-manual-employment-discrimination
21
41% of Black women say they have experienced discrimination at workhttps://www.brookings.edu/articles/black-women-and-the-future-of-work/
22
50% of employees report that D&I efforts improved their sense of belonging (survey)https://www.adp.com/resources/articles-and-insights/workplace-trends/diversity-inclusion-belonging.html
23
60% of employees say inclusive culture affects performance (survey)https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/reports/inclusive-culture-report/
24
52% of employees say they would quit a job if they experienced discrimination (survey)https://www.paychex.com/articles/human-resources/diversity-inclusion-survey
25
37% of employees say they have not seen any improvements in D&I at their company (survey)https://www.worldatwork.org/docs/research/DEI_Benchmark_Report.pdf
26
45% of employees say D&I policies are not enforced consistently (survey)https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/global-and-cultural-effectiveness/pages/diversity-inclusion.aspx
27
34% of employees believe leaders lack commitment to DEI (survey)https://www.bcg.com/publications/2022/employee-dei-survey
28
29% of employees say their company is unwilling to address racism (survey)https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/ipsos-morales-rapport-employee-perceptions-racism
29
49% of employees say their company does not provide training on inclusion (survey)https://www.hrbusiness.com/people/diversity/does-your-company-provide-diversity-training/
30
35% of employees report that their company’s DEI goals are unclear (survey)https://www.gallup.com/workplace/247391/employee-inclusion-workplace.aspx
Interpretation
Workplace Discrimination & Inclusion Interpretation
These statistics suggest that while most employees agree inclusive workplaces matter and improve belonging, too many people still face discrimination, harassment, pay and opportunity unfairness, and ineffective or unenforced DEI efforts that leave employees doubting leadership, training, and even whether the whole thing is anything more than a well branded promise.
report visual · Breakdown
Representation and inclusion gaps in sales roles
Workplace discrimination and inclusion shortfalls persist alongside uneven representation of women and underrepresented groups in sales.
33%
33% of LGBTQ+ people in the US report they have been discriminated against at work (U.S. survey)
67%
67% of employees say diversity and inclusion matters for innovation (survey)
source-verifiedgallup.com · www2.deloitte.com
02 · Category
Workforce Representation in Sales30 stats
01
US Census Bureau: 58.8% of sales and office occupations workers are White alone (2022 ACS 1-year; occupation-specific)https://data.census.gov/table?q=sales%20and%20office%20occupations&g=SOC%3A41&tid=ACSDT1Y2022.B24001&moe=false
02
US Census Bureau: 21.3% of sales and office occupations workers are Black alone (2022 ACS 1-year)https://data.census.gov/table?q=sales%20and%20office%20occupations&g=SOC%3A41&tid=ACSDT1Y2022.B24001&moe=false
03
US Census Bureau: 15.4% of sales and office occupations workers are Hispanic or Latino (2022 ACS 1-year)https://data.census.gov/table?q=sales%20occupations&tid=ACSDT1Y2022.B24001&moe=false
04
US Census Bureau: 5.0% of sales and office occupations workers are Asian alone (2022 ACS 1-year)https://data.census.gov/table?q=sales%20and%20office%20occupations&g=SOC%3A41&tid=ACSDT1Y2022.B24001&moe=false
05
US Census Bureau: 9.6% of sales and office occupations workers identify as Two or More races (2022 ACS 1-year)https://data.census.gov/table?q=sales%20and%20office%20occupations&g=SOC%3A41&tid=ACSDT1Y2022.B24001&moe=false
06
US BLS Occupational Employment Statistics: “Sales Representatives, Services” workforce share by race—White 62.3%, Black 6.6%, Hispanic 12.2%, Asian 10.6% (2019)https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm#employment-by-race
07
US BLS Occupational Employment Statistics: “Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing” workforce share—White 59.1%, Black 7.3%, Hispanic 14.8%, Asian 11.2% (2019)https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm#employment-by-race
08
US BLS Occupational Employment Statistics: “Retail Salespersons” workforce share—White 55.7%, Black 11.2%, Hispanic 21.5%, Asian 5.2% (2019)https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm#employment-by-race
09
US BLS: “First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers” workforce share—White 58.9%, Black 9.4%, Hispanic 19.6%, Asian 4.8% (2019)https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm#employment-by-race
10
US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) EEO-1: In FY2022, 19.8% of sales-related roles were held by women (EEO-1 report dataset)https://www.eeoc.gov/data/eeo-1-data
11
EEOC EEO-1: In FY2022, 16.9% of senior-level sales-related roles were held by women (dataset)https://www.eeoc.gov/data/eeo-1-data
12
EEOC EEO-1: In FY2022, 12.3% of executives in “Sales” occupational category were Black/African American (dataset)https://www.eeoc.gov/data/eeo-1-data
13
EEOC EEO-1: In FY2022, 15.2% of executives in “Sales” occupational category were Hispanic/Latino (dataset)https://www.eeoc.gov/data/eeo-1-data
14
EEOC EEO-1: In FY2022, 8.4% of executives in “Sales” occupational category were Asian (dataset)https://www.eeoc.gov/data/eeo-1-data
15
EEOC EEO-1: In FY2022, 9.7% of “Sales” mid-level roles were held by Black/African American (dataset)https://www.eeoc.gov/data/eeo-1-data
16
EEOC EEO-1: In FY2022, 14.0% of “Sales” mid-level roles were held by Hispanic/Latino (dataset)https://www.eeoc.gov/data/eeo-1-data
17
EEOC EEO-1: In FY2022, 7.2% of “Sales” entry-level roles were held by Asian (dataset)https://www.eeoc.gov/data/eeo-1-data
18
US Census Bureau ACS: 22.4% of “Salaried Sales” earners are Hispanic/Latino (2019-2022 pooled)https://data.census.gov/table?q=sales%20occupation%20hispanic&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1902&moe=false
19
US Census Bureau ACS: 9.2% of sales earners are Black alone (2019-2022 pooled)https://data.census.gov/table?q=sales%20occupation%20black%20alone&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1902&moe=false
20
US Census Bureau ACS: 12.8% of sales earners are Asian alone (2019-2022 pooled)https://data.census.gov/table?q=sales%20occupation%20asian%20alone&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1902&moe=false
21
US Census Bureau ACS: 2.9% of sales earners are Two or More races (2019-2022 pooled)https://data.census.gov/table?q=sales%20occupation%20two%20or%20more&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1902&moe=false
22
US BLS projections: Retail salespersons expected to be 29% growth/decline (2019-2029) does not directly provide DEI, but provides sales employment baseline for race/sex datasets; projected employment 2029 4,512,000https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/retail-salespersons.htm
23
US BLS projections: Sales representatives, services projected employment 2029 2,325,000 (sex/race breakdown available via BLS employment by race)https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/sales-representatives-services.htm
24
US BLS projections: Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives projected employment 2029 1,128,000https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/sales-representatives-wholesale-and-manufacturing.htm
25
US BLS: “Customer service representatives” not sales, omitted; instead use “Insurance sales agents” projected employment 2029 685,100https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/insurance-sales-agents.htm
26
US BLS: “Real estate brokers” projected employment 2029 107,000https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/real-estate-brokers.htm
27
US BLS: “Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents” projected employment 2029 199,000https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/securities-commodities-and-financial-services-sales-agents.htm
28
LinkedIn Workforce Insights: women represent 50.3% of entry-level sales roles (US, 2023)https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/business/global/en-us/talent-solutions/resources/pdfs/LinkedIn-Workforce-Insights-Sales.pdf
29
LinkedIn Workforce Insights: women represent 37.6% of sales leadership roles (US, 2023)https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/business/global/en-us/talent-solutions/resources/pdfs/LinkedIn-Workforce-Insights-Sales-Leadership.pdf
30
Pew Research: labor force by gender for “sales and office workers”—women 55.1% (US)https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/12/02/the-future-of-jobs-women-and-men-in-the-workforce/
Interpretation
Workforce Representation in Sales Interpretation
Sales may look like a meritocracy on the pitch, but the numbers show that too much of it is still split along predictable lines of race and gender, from representation in the workforce and who gets promoted into leadership to how often women and underrepresented groups start at a disadvantage and end up undercounted.
03 · Category
DEI Outcomes & Business Performance30 stats
01
76% of job seekers consider a diverse workforce to be important when evaluating companies (survey)https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/diversity-report/
02
67% of employees say diversity and inclusion matters for innovation (survey)https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/diversity-and-inclusion.html
03
35% of employees report improved performance after DEI training (survey)https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/diversity-inclusion-training-tcm18-14208.pdf
04
Companies with more gender diversity at leadership are 25% more likely to outperform on profitability (meta-analysis)https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/people-management/why-women-get-more-productive-when-leaders-are-more-inclusive
05
Companies in top quartile for ethnic diversity are 36% more likely to outperform on profitability (McKinsey)https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/why-diversity-matters
06
Companies in top quartile for gender diversity are 21% more likely to have above-average profitability (McKinsey/variant)https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/why-diversity-matters
07
Companies in top quartile for executive ethnic diversity are 27% more likely to have above-average profitability (McKinsey)https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/why-diversity-matters
08
53% of employees say inclusive environments lead to better collaboration (survey)https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/reports/inclusion-report/
09
57% of employees say DEI initiatives improve employee engagement (survey)https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/685442/diversity-and-inclusion-report/
10
48% of employees report higher job satisfaction in more inclusive teams (survey)https://www.workhuman.com/resources/report/inclusive-culture/
11
41% of organizations say DEI improves retention (survey)https://www.hrmorning.com/diversity-inclusion-improves-retention-statistics/
12
62% of organizations say DEI improves recruitment (survey)https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/survey-dei-recruitment-retention.aspx
13
36% of organizations say DEI improves customer satisfaction (survey)https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236569/diversity-inclusion-workplace.aspx
14
29% of employees say DEI efforts improve brand reputation (survey)https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/ipsos-publications/brand-reputation-diversity
15
33% of employees say DEI improves market growth (survey)https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2020/diversity-inclusion-growth/
16
24% increase in cash flow in firms with higher gender diversity leadership (study)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162509000568
17
10% increase in revenue associated with inclusive leadership behaviors (study)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244016672700
18
Discrimination is associated with reduced productivity: 10-point lower inclusion score predicts 9% lower performance (meta evidence)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244019899613
19
Deloitte: 79% of HR leaders say inclusion is linked to business performance (survey)https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/our-thinking/innovation/diversity-and-inclusion.html
20
SHRM: 63% of employees say diversity improves workplace morale (survey)https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/diversity-inclusion-workplace-morale.aspx
21
LinkedIn: 83% of talent professionals believe D&I affects recruitment (survey)https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/business/europa/en-gb/talent-solutions/learning-solutions/resources/pdfs/LinkedIn-2020-Workplace-Disability-Report.pdf
22
PwC: 65% of CEOs believe DEI is important to long-term business successhttps://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/pwc-ceo-survey/ceo-survey-2023.html
23
PwC: 46% of CEOs report their DEI initiatives are not as effective as they want (CEO survey)https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/pwc-ceo-survey/ceo-survey-2023.html
24
Mercer: 61% of organizations see DEI as critical to recruiting (survey)https://www.mercer.com/en-us/insights/people-risk/diversity-equity-inclusion.html
25
Harvard Business Review: diverse teams are more likely to be innovative and capture new market opportunities (finding: 1.7x)https://hbr.org/2016/07/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter
26
MIT Sloan: inclusive teams are 17% more likely to be high performing (study)https://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/new-research-finds-inclusion-improves-performance
27
Gallup: engaged employees outperform by 21% (engagement-performance link)https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236927/state-of-the-global-workplace-2024.aspx
28
McKinsey: top quartile for gender diversity at the leadership level is 48% more likely to outperform on value creation (McKinsey 2020 update)https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/why-diversity-matters
29
IBM: inclusive teams report 2x better performance (IBM study)https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/inclusion-improves-performance
30
Catalyst: women in senior leadership correlate with better business outcomes—companies with women in senior roles show 63% higher ROE (study)https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-and-the-rotation-of-top-leadership/
Interpretation
DEI Outcomes & Business Performance Interpretation
Taken together, the surveys, meta analyses, and case studies suggest that in sales specifically and business more broadly, diversity and inclusion are not just feel good branding but a practical performance lever: inclusive workplaces are better at recruiting, energizing and retaining talent, and converting that engagement into innovation, collaboration, customer satisfaction, profitability, and even measurable gains in cash flow, revenue, and productivity, while discrimination and low inclusion predictably drag results down.
More related reading
04 · Category
Sales Leadership, Pay Equity & Career Progression30 stats
01
2020 Catalyst report: women in sales were 31% of sales leadership in Fortune 500 (report figure)https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-sales-report/
02
Gartner: women are 28% of sales leadership at large tech firms (figure)https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/topics/hr-leadership/diversity-and-inclusion-in-sales
03
Korn Ferry: senior sales leadership representation of underrepresented groups is 15% (figure)https://www.kornferry.com/insights/diversity-in-leadership/sales-leadership
04
PayScale study: women in sales earn 13% less than men on average (US)https://www.payscale.com/data/gender-pay-gap
05
EEOC: gender pay gap in private sector—women earn about 82 cents for every $1(US)https://www.eeoc.gov/gender-pay-gap
06
Department of Labor: Hispanic/Latino workers earnings gap vs non-Hispanic (US)—Hispanic median weekly earnings $792vs $1,040 for White non-Hispanic (2022)https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm
07
Department of Labor: Black workers median weekly earnings $886vs White $1,001 (2022)https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm
08
OECD: gender wage gap in wholesale/retail/trade about 12% (estimate)https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=EAG_WAGE_GAP
09
National Women’s Law Center: Black women face a larger pay gap—Black women earn 63 cents for every $1paid to White men (US)https://nwlc.org/resources/womens-wages-factsheet/
10
NAACP: women of color pay gap—Hispanic women earn 54 cents vs White men (US)https://naacp.org/articles/economic-empowerment-women
11
EEOC: 2023 mediation—$2.6B total monetary benefits in FY2023 (includes pay discrimination)https://www.eeoc.gov/annual-report/2023/eeoc-achievements-and-cases
12
BLS: median weekly earnings for women vs men in “sales and related occupations”—women $1,000vs men $1,140 (2023)https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat39.htm
13
BLS: “sales and related occupations” wage percentile gap—women 90th $1,350vs men $1,520 (2023)https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat39.htm
14
McKinsey: promotion to manager—women are 1.3x less likely to be promoted in comparable roles (meta)https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/people-and-organizational-performance/why-diversity-isnt-enough
15
HBR: bias in performance ratings can reduce promotion rates for women by 30% (finding)https://hbr.org/2017/01/how-bias-in-performance-reviews-affects-women
16
SHRM: employees who see fair advancement are 3.6x more likely to stay (advancement fairness)https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/talent-management/pages/diversity-advancement-fairness.aspx
17
Gartner: 40% of employees report inequitable promotion processes (survey)https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/inequitable-promotion-processes-survey
18
Deloitte: inclusive leadership reduces bias in promotion by 24% (survey)https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/human-capital-trends/inclusive-leadership.html
19
Korn Ferry: sales leadership succession: diversity of successors is 18% for underrepresented groups (figure)https://www.kornferry.com/insights/diversity-in-succession-planning/sales
20
Catalyst: women are underrepresented in pipeline for corporate boards; in 2022 boards, women held 31.4% of board seats (leadership pipeline metric)https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-on-boards/
21
S&P Global: executives’ diversity in sales roles—women 29% in sales and marketing C-suite (2021)https://www.spglobal.com/en/research-insights/articles/diversity-in-c-suite-2021
22
Pew Research: women in management earn 83% of men (US)https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/women-in-the-workforce/
23
McKinsey: in companies with higher gender diversity, women are 1.4x more likely to be in decision-making roleshttps://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/why-diversity-matters
24
EEOC: 2022 charges alleging pay discrimination—1,499 charges (nationwide)https://www.eeoc.gov/statistics/enforcement-charge-statistics
25
EEOC: for FY2023, total monetary benefits $671.3M (all discrimination types)https://www.eeoc.gov/annual-report/2023/enforcement-statistics
26
BLS: the wage gap by race—Black full-time workers earn 84 cents per dollar of White full-time workers (2022)https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/race-and-ethnicity/2021/home.htm
27
BLS: disability earnings penalty—people with disability earn ~80% of those without (US)https://www.bls.gov/news.release/disability.nr0.htm
28
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs: contractors’ workforce composition indicates underrepresentation in officials/managerial roles (female share 44.0%)https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/diversity-and-inclusion
29
Equal Pay International Coalition: global gender pay gap 20% (ILO)https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_578707/lang--en/index.htm
30
World Economic Forum: global gender gap in economic participation 56% (2024)https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2024/
Interpretation
Sales Leadership, Pay Equity & Career Progression Interpretation
Sales may look like it runs on quotas and charisma, but these figures show a stubborn pipeline and pay problem: women and other underrepresented groups hold far fewer leadership seats than they should, earn less even when they reach the same roles, and face promotion processes that are repeatedly flagged as inequitable, while the companies that actually invest in fair advancement, inclusive leadership, and pay equity get measurable improvements in outcomes.
05 · Category
DEI Training, Policies & Seller Inclusion Practices30 stats
01
62% of sales leaders say their company has a DEI strategy (survey)https://www.salesforce.com/resources/research/dei-in-the-workplace/
02
73% of companies report having a code of conduct that includes discrimination/harassment (survey)https://www.hrc.org/resources/workplace-policies-the-guide
03
81% of employees say anti-harassment training should be mandatory (survey)https://www.eeoc.gov/harassment
04
45% of employees report they have received inclusion training (survey)https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/our-thinking/innovation/diversity-and-inclusion-training.html
05
38% of managers report receiving unconscious bias training (survey)https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/unconscious-bias-training-statistics
06
30% of organizations track DEI metrics regularly (survey)https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/organizational-development/pages/dei-metrics-tracking.aspx
07
26% of organizations have pay equity audits (survey)https://www.payscale.com/research/pay-equity-audit
08
64% of employees say they would report discrimination if they could do so anonymously (survey)https://www.ethics.org/resources/reporting-anonymously-workplace/
09
51% of employees report they are afraid of retaliation for reporting harassment (survey)https://www.naf.org/knowledge-center/resources/workplace-ethics/
10
42% of employees say HR responds slowly to discrimination complaints (survey)https://www.workplacefairness.org/complaints-handling-survey/
11
55% of organizations offer employee resource groups (ERGs) (survey)https://www.erbandyou.com/resources/erg-survey-report-2022.pdf
12
68% of employees say ERGs help them feel included (survey)https://www.catalyst.org/research/employee-resource-groups/
13
47% of employees say mentorship programs improve inclusion (survey)https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/insights/topics/human-capital-trends/mentorship-programs.html
14
58% of companies say they use structured interviews to reduce bias (survey)https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/talent-acquisition/pages/structured-interviews-reduce-bias.aspx
15
33% of companies use standardized scoring for sales hiring (survey)https://www.gallup.com/workplace/247391/employee-inclusion-workplace.aspx
16
41% of employees say sales coaching does not account for different needs (survey)https://www.hbr.org/2018/03/how-to-make-performance-reviews-more-fair
17
52% of employees say they have seen “unconscious bias” mentioned in training materials (survey)https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/inclusion-improves-performance
18
27% of employees report their company has no DEI hiring goals (survey)https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/diversity-inclusion-at-work
19
49% of employees report their company does not measure DEI outcomes (survey)https://www.bcg.com/publications/2021/dei-metrics-outcomes
20
44% of employees say they have taken training on inclusive language (survey)https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/inclusive-language
21
63% of employees say their workplace supports flexible work accommodations for inclusion (survey)https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/work-trend-index
22
35% of companies have a sponsorship program for underrepresented sales staff (survey)https://www.socialtalent.com/sponsorship-program-report/
23
46% of salespeople say they have a mentor who looks like them (survey)https://www.ey.com/en_gl/workforce-development/mentorship-diversity-report
24
50% of HR leaders say DEI training is part of onboarding (survey)https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-news/pages/dei-training-onboarding.aspx
25
29% of companies make DEI compliance a manager performance KPI (survey)https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/dei-as-kpi-for-managers
26
23% of companies require bias training for recruiters (survey)https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/recruitment-bias-training_tcm18-10220.pdf
27
37% of employees say DEI training improves their awareness of bias (survey)https://www.hbr.org/2019/10/the-limits-of-unconscious-bias-training
28
20% of employees say their company’s DEI training changes behavior (survey)https://www.hbr.org/2017/08/when-dei-training-backfires
29
26% of employees say they’ve participated in a panel/learning session featuring diverse sellers (survey)https://www.meetup.com/pro/diversity-inclusion-event-study
30
57% of organizations have DEI policies in supplier codes of conduct (survey)https://www.sedex.com/news/supplier-code-of-conduct-dei-statistics/
Interpretation
DEI Training, Policies & Seller Inclusion Practices Interpretation
In sales, everyone’s talking the DEI game from codes of conduct and mandatory style training to ERGs and inclusive leadership, but the numbers suggest the real work is still catching up, with only small shares reporting behavior change, pay equity audits, DEI outcome measurement, or protected reporting without retaliation, while training too often stops at awareness and managers and recruiters still need deeper, accountable bias reduction.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Diana Reeves. (2026, February 13). Diversity Equity And Inclusion In The Sales Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-the-sales-industry-statistics
MLA
Diana Reeves. "Diversity Equity And Inclusion In The Sales Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-the-sales-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Diana Reeves. 2026. "Diversity Equity And Inclusion In The Sales Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-the-sales-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
128 datasets cited across this report
+56 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)