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Businesses benefit when their workforce — and especially leadership — is diverse. When the leaders of a company come from different backgrounds, informed by gender, race, ethnicity and class, decisions are made with a wide breadth of experience. Investing in diversity means investing in long-term growth.
“Research consistently shows that companies with more diverse leadership teams outperform financially,” pointed out Abby Valentino-Giacona, director, industry affairs, SNAC International. “For the snack industry, that translates to stronger decision-making, more innovation and better alignment with consumers.”
About half of the United States population is female, a group that continues to grow in skill set and education while being held back, particularly from leadership roles. The 2025 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that 46.7% of the total baking manufacturing workforce was women. However, the same data showed that when it came to industrial production managers across all manufacturing, only 22.8% were women. First-line supervisors in production and operations in manufacturing at large were 20.2% women.
While these data points aren’t perfectly aligned, it’s not hard to extrapolate the trend. This is not a new story, but it is one that has gone through an evolution as the labor market continues to change in this post-pandemic period.
“One misconception is that progress is done,” Valentino-Giacona said. “While there’s been meaningful advancement, women are still underrepresented at the most senior levels. Another is that capability is the issue. The talent is there. What’s often missing is consistent visibility, sponsorship and access to the right opportunities.”
Despite women surpassing men in education level and closing the employment gap, they are less likely to be promoted, mentored or sponsored by leaders in their companies. At the same time, companies are scaling back policies and programs that make career growth more attainable for women.
“It’s one thing to say you value women in leadership, but it’s another to build the systems that support women in leadership,” said Ashley Robertson, communications officer of the Society of Bakery Women (SBW). “This can look like having more transparent career paths and management training, updating mindsets of what leadership looks like.”
Companies that invest in their leadership pipeline, regardless of gender, will be the ones that have the workforce for their company’s future solvency.
“It comes down to talent,” Valentino-Giacona said. “Simply put, companies that invest in their people and fully leverage their talent will outperform those that don’t.”
This article is an excerpt from the June 2026 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Women in the Workforce, click here.
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