Today – for the 30th year in a row – Intel released its 2023-24 Corporate Responsibility Report, an annual report of corporate responsibility efforts spanning its business, operations, supply chain and more.
Combing through the report, readers will find highlights of Intel’s progress over the past year.
More: 2023-24 Intel Corporate Responsibility Report | CEO Letter: 2023-24 Intel CSR Report
A quick refresher: Four years ago, Intel first presented its RISE (Responsible, Inclusive, Sustainable and Enabling) strategy and goals. In it, the company laid out a decade-long framework for a world that meets those four pillars, all enabled by Intel technology and its employees’ expertise and passion. Since then, Intel has made significant progress.
Here’s a look at the progress made in 2023 and the beginning of 2024:
R is for Responsible: Intel continues to focus on sustainable and responsible AI and responsible supply chain business practices.
It's no secret that AI is a hot topic. And as it continues to evolve, Intel is ensuring that it’s used responsibly and sustainably. In 2023, Intel updated its responsible AI strategy and principles to reflect recent innovations and emerging risks. The company also launched its first 16-week/64-hour Applied Ethics for AI and AI for Sustainability course curricula to further AI education through the AI for Future Workforce Program, which focuses on community colleges to prepare current and future workers with critical AI skills.
Supply chains are complex, with lots of moving parts. Intel’s supplier responsibility program embeds respect for human rights across the supply chain. One of Intel’s 2030 goals is ensuring respect for human rights across 100% of its contracted and high-risk suppliers. In 2023, Intel verified that 25% of those suppliers met this expectation through audits and assessments. Intel also updated the language of its 2030 goal to reflect the company’s continuing commitment to human rights for all high-risk identified suppliers – not solely those in the top tiers of the supply chain.
(Learn more about Intel’s Responsible RISE goals starting on page 40 of the report.)
I is for Inclusion: Intel continues to work toward building an inclusive work environment where employees can achieve their full potential.
Diversity, equity and inclusion are instrumental in driving innovation and delivering strong business growth. Intel’s 2030 goals outline the company’s ambitions related to workforce inclusion and how the company can best leverage the market availability of talent. Making progress in these areas takes time and intention. At the end of 2023, here’s where Intel stood:
- 25% of technical roles were held by women, an increase from 24.7% in 2022.
- 2.4% of Intel’s global workforce and 5.3% of U.S. employees self-identified as having as disability. At the end of 2022, those metrics were 2.2% and 4.9%, respectively.
- Black/African American representation in senior, director and executive roles in the U.S. was 3.22%, a decrease from 3.33% in 2022.
- 19% of senior leadership roles across the globe are held by women, a slight increase from 18.9% in 2022.
Amid a shifting economic landscape and changes in Intel’s supplier ecosystem, Intel also achieved $1.6 billion in annual spending with diverse suppliers, following a record high of $2.2 billion in 2022. And Intel is on track to meet its milestone to spend $500 million annually with women-owned suppliers outside the U.S. by the end of 2025.
In 2023, Intel also scaled its digital readiness programs, collaborating with 28 countries, enabling nearly 24,000 institutions and training almost 6 million people in AI skillsets for current and future jobs.
(Learn more about Intel’s Inclusive RISE goals starting on page 55 of the report.)
S is for Sustainable: Intel combats climate change with bolstered energy and water conservation, progress on greenhouse gas reduction, efforts to create a more sustainable supply chain, and technology that enables its customers and others to reduce their environmental impact.
Intel is dedicated to reducing its environmental footprint – especially as the organization grows – across three primary areas: climate, water and waste.
- Climate: In 2023, Intel achieved 100% renewable electricity for its U.S., Europe, Malaysia, Vietnam and China locations, and is approaching 100% in Costa Rica. That brings Intel’s global renewable electricity total to 99%. The company also had a 43% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions from its 2019 baseline. Since 2021, actions by suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have resulted in an estimated 9% of emissions avoidance in Intel's supply chain.
- Water: Intel conserved approximately 10.2 billion gallons of water and enabled restoration of 3.1 billion gallons through watershed restoration projects in 2023. Intel’s U.S., Costa Rica, Mexico and India locations achieved net positive water restoration in 2023. Intel expects to conserve and restore a total of 13.5 billion gallons of water in 2024, and the company is on track to achieve its water conservation goal by 2030.
- Waste: By the end of 2023, Intel sent 6% of its waste to landfills and implemented circular strategies (upcycling) for approximately 63% of its manufacturing waste (76,000 tons). Despite construction waste increasing in 2023, total waste declined from 2022.
Intel is also committed to designing sustainability into its products, platforms, software and services to create more sustainable computing. One of Intel’s 2030 goals is to increase energy efficiency for client and server processors by 10 times. Intel is on track to hit this target, thanks in part to the energy-efficient cores in Intel’s 13th Gen Intel® Core™ mobile processors, Intel® Core™ 14th Gen desktop processors, Intel® Core™ Ultra mobile processors and 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors.
(Learn more about Intel’s Sustainable RISE goals starting on page 71 of the report.)
E is for Enabling: Intel creates a better world through the power of technology and by enabling the digital world’s next generation.
The Intel Foundation and Intel employees continue to impress with their acts of service and donations.
Employees volunteered more than 1 million hours in 2023 – contributing to a cumulative 3.8 million hours of service toward Intel’s 2030 goal of 10 million hours. And, since its inception in 1988, the Intel Foundation has contributed $819 million to local communities and underserved populations through programs and STEM initiatives.
Intel is also working with the N50 Project – an organization dedicated to accelerating digital adoption and community enrichment through innovative applications, network design and business models – to help enable another 3 billion people to participate in the digital world. And through the Intel RISE Technology Initiative (IRTI), Intel has invested cumulatively in 370 technology projects across 42 countries since 2020, addressing health and life sciences, education, economic recovery, social equity and human rights, accessibility, and sustainability.
(Learn more about Intel’s Enabling RISE goals starting on page 94 of the report.)