September 21, 2006

Hispanic Business and LATINA Style magazines cite utility for diversity.

ROSEMEAD, Calif., September 21, 2006—Two national magazines geared to Latinos have named Southern California Edison (SCE) as one of the best companies in America for Hispanics to work.

Hispanic Business magazine ranked SCE third on its list of the top 50 companies in America for Hispanics, while LATINA Style magazine, for the eighth consecutive year, ranked SCE as one of the “best 50 companies for Latinas to work for in the United States,” placing the utility among the top 10 companies on its list.

“We are proud to be recognized by LATINA Style and Hispanic Business Journal,” said Southern California Edison (SCE) Chairman John Bryson.  “The fact that SCE has become one of the most recognized companies in America for workplace diversity is a credit to our employees who strive to create a work force that reflects the rich diversity of our customer base.”

The Hispanic Business selection marks the first time SCE has been included on the magazine’s list, an annual compilation determined by more than 30 variables measuring companies' commitment to Hispanic hiring, promotion, marketing, philanthropy, and supplier diversity.

The magazine noted SCE, the highest ranked utility on the list, “promotes diversity with leadership programs, recruiting, and supplier diversity goals. SCE values and builds on differences for the benefit of the company, its customers, employees, and the communities it serves.”

With nearly one-third of its female work force consisting of Latinas, LATINA Style praised SCE for achieving such diversity in the traditionally male-dominated utility industry.  The magazine noted SCE offers a variety of mentoring and leadership training programs to help Latinas and other employees reach their full potential at the company.

The magazine’s evaluation was based upon issues identified by LATINA Style as most important to its readers, among them a company’s number of Latina executives, mentoring programs, educational opportunities, dependent/child care support, benefits, and women’s issues.

At SCE, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, ethnic minorities make up 47% of the work force, 31.2% of senior officials, managers and high-level professionals, and 54.2% of new hires.

“Being recognized for our diversity efforts during national Hispanic Heritage month is especially satisfying,” said Frank Quevedo, SCE’s vice president for equal opportunity.  

Related Fact

  • The Hispanic Business list of top companies for Hispanics can be seen at www.hispanicbusiness.com/news and click on Top 50 Companies for Hispanics 2006.
  • The LATINA Style list of top companies for Latinas can be seen at  latina50.latinastyle.com/ls50-2006list.php

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An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.7 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California.