September 17, 2021

New Goals: Our Ongoing Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

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Shake Shack employees posing by a wall that reads Stand for Something Good

At Shake Shack, our mission has always been to Stand for Something Good®, from our commitment to delivering an elevated guest experience and sourcing premium ingredients to supporting and investing in our people and communities around the world. It’s been in our DNA since we started as a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park in 2001, and we continue to stand by our core values, especially in these difficult times.

Today, we released our annual Stand For Something Good® Summary, focusing on company milestones with a focus on community support, diversity, equity and inclusion, employee benefits and compensation and sustainability, and we’re setting new goals as we continue growing and look to the future.

One area we’re continuing to invest in heavily is diversity and inclusion. At Shake Shack, people are the core of who we are and what we stand for. Our people are central to all our decisions and we actively work to foster an environment of hope, optimism, affirmation and on-going learning. Since we opened our first Shack, we’ve been on a journey to foster a great place to work for everyone, and we feel strongly that setting new goals will help others when it comes to access, opportunity and advancement, and part of the change needed in our society in the fight for equality and against racism and bias. Having diverse representation across all functions and levels is important to our success and our growth.

Today, women make up 53% of our workforce and people of color make up 76%. While we are making progress, we know we have more work to do. By 2025, we want to have:

  • • 50% people of color in Shack Leadership (currently 34.7%) and 30% in Home Office Leadership roles (currently 19.6%)
  • • Gender parity between men and women in Shack Leadership (currently 23.7%) and Home Office Leadership roles (currently 49%)

We are getting intentional about how we will reach these goals by launching new programs, such as Shift Up, a personal and professional skill development program designed to equip our team members in Shacks with the skills they need to advance to the next management level. We partnered with Food Education Fund, a nonprofit specializing in culinary arts to develop a curriculum and program. The program provides Shift Managers with training to help improve their skill set and grow their confidence to become senior leaders in our Shacks. Through classroom-based instruction, experiential learning and peer-to-peer networking, participants develop their skills in professional and business communications, digital literacy, finances, personal life management and leadership. 75% of our inaugural cohort of Shift Managers participating in the program are women and people of color, and our next class launches this summer.

In addition to setting these new diversity and inclusion goals, we reached several other milestones that reflect our commitment to our people:

  • • We created more than 1,097 new jobs in the U.S.
  • • We offered 1,500+ internal promotions, with more than 55% going to women and 76% going to people of color.
  • • We provided over $6M in additional compensation and bonuses to our team members to support them during the pandemic.
  • • We established a dedicated Diversity, Equity and Inclusion function to advance our commitment to fostering a culture of belonging and equal opportunity for growth.
  • • We earned a 100% score on Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index for the second year in a row, further underscoring our support of the LGBTQ+ community in the workplace.
  • • We provided paid time off to vote during the general election to ensure our team members had the time and support to vote.
  • • We tripled our support to team members in need via the HUG Fund, our 501c3 non-profit fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’re dedicated to doing the work it takes to be a company that values diversity, not only in our words, but in our actions, as we bring our mission to Stand For Something Good® to life each and every day. Ensuring equal opportunity for success, diversity in leadership at all levels and a culture that embraces different backgrounds and ideals has been the focus of our efforts since day one.

We hope that what Shack fans take away from this summary is our commitment to drive positive change and to hold ourselves accountable to cultivating a diverse workforce and fostering a sense of belonging for all.

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