Applied Materials

Applied Materials supports digital inclusivity through its Generation Girl initiative, which provides funding to non-profits working to enhance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education among girls in the US.

Applied Materials supports school connectivity by providing funds to The Association of Taiwan Online Education Development, which provides free online resources to teachers and students.

The company has a Chief Information Security Officer responsible for cybersecurity and discloses its information security management certificate.

Applied Materials supports start-ups by providing them access to its engineering facilities and connecting them with its network of customers and supply chain partners as well as venture capital firms, including its own venture capital arm Applied Ventures. The company also follows best practice by reporting the number of women in its technical team.

Applied Materials can disclose the number of people with disabilities that it employs and take steps to create an inclusive workplace for them. The company reports its community investments, but it can also report how it distributes the wealth it creates among its stakeholders, as well as the taxes it pays and employment in its main markets.

Applied Materials has an opportunity to enhance its support for intermediate and technical digital skills programmes.

The company can report how it monitors and responds to security incidents and disclose its data breaches.

Applied Materials can enhance its support for open source projects and standards. The company can also disclose the ethical principles it follows for its research and development (R&D) activities.

Applied Materials commits to respecting human rights in a publicly available policy document. However, the company’s commitment to respect the ILO core labour rights can be stronger. Furthermore, it does not disclose a process to identify, assess and act on salient human rights risks associated with its own operations and with its business relationships. The company does, however, have a grievance mechanism accessible to both workers and external stakeholders to raise human rights concerns and complaints.

The company publicly commits to respecting worker health and safety and expects its business relationships to do the same. The company also has 40% women on its board and a target to increase women representation in its US workforce. However, its policy for regular and overtime working hours are not clear and it does not disclose the percentage of its workers covered by collective bargaining agreements.

Applied Materials has a global tax strategy. It also follows best practice by having a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption and describing how it identifies its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. However, the company lacks disclosure on its approach to lobbying and political engagement outside the US.