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American Eagle Outfitters

Known for American Eagle, Aerie

American Eagle Outfitters is a global speciality retailer of clothing, accessories and personal care products. The company has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China and Hong Kong and ships to 81 countries through its websites. In addition, its merchandise is available at more than 200 international locations. The company employs over 40,000 people worldwide and had US$3.8 billion in revenue in 2020.

Summary

American Eagle Outfitters ranks 25th in this year’s Gender Benchmark with a score of 18.4 out of 100. It displays leading practice in 2 out of 34 indicators and is ahead of industry peers in marketplace and violence and harassment. However, the company has considerable room for improvement on governance and strategy and compensation and benefits.

American Eagle has a marketing approach that seeks to challenge existing gender norms and promotes positive images of women and girls by choosing to not airbrush its models through its #AERIEReal initiative. In the workplace, the company has established a zero-tolerance policy on violence, discrimination and harassment, which is explained in detail in its associate handbook, and ensures this policy is communicated internally by conducting annual Code of Ethics trainings. It also has a remediation process for addressing violence and harassment grievances that indicates clear disciplinary sanctions for the perpetrator.

However, American Eagle does not display a commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment across its full value chain nor has it established gender-related targets. Moreover, it fails to provide childcare or other family support, to support employees with their unpaid care burden, or offer them flexible work options. In the supply chain, there is no evidence that the company supports its suppliers in ensuring workers receive formal contracts, a living wage, or family-friendly benefits.

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Ranking position: #25/35
Total score: 18.4/100

Measurement area	Score	Rank (0-35)
Governance and strategy	2.5 /20	#26
Representation	2.2 /17.5	#25
Compensation and benefits	0.0 /17.5	#30
Health and well-being	2.2 /17.5	#18
Violence and harassment	6.6 /17.5	#16
Marketplace	2.5 /5	#3
Community	2.5 /5	#19
Total score	18.4 /100	#25

Value chain element	Score
Workplace	7.5 /41
Supply chain	6.0 /41

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2020

More about the company

Headquarters: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Revenue: US$3.8 billion
Total number of employees: 37,000
Ownership structure: Publicly listed
Website: https://www.ae.com/us/en