Celebrating our women around the world

Today, on International Women's Day, OCS is celebrating the contribution women make to our business, on the front line, in the boardroom and across the world.

Throughout the day, on LinkedIn and Instagram, we are telling our colleagues' inspirational stories about their careers, their families and the challenges they have overcome. Their stories are all very different, from OCS India's Ranjana Bhange, who moved to Mumbai to find a better life for her and her five children, to Marianne Holgate, our Group Director of Human Resources & Corporate Affairs - the only female member of the OCS Group Executive Leadership Team.

At OCS Australia and New Zealand, where 63 per cent of the workforce is female, women are telling their stories through video. Among those featured are Finance Director Debby Wong, just one of the women who make up 56 per cent the OCS ANZ leadership team. "Women and girls deserve the same rights and opportunities as their fathers and brothers," she says. "If women improve their lives, it will improve family life and community and strengthen the next generation."

In Thailand, PCS enabled former housemaid Nirat Nabangrak to provide her family. She got a job with us when her husband, a former PCS colleague, could not work due to ill health. The business even provided her son with a four-year scholarship during his bachelor's degree. Now a Janitorial Supervisor, Nirat has been awarded for her 15 years' long service. She says: "PCS gave me the opportunity in my life."

And in the UK, OCS's investment in Allison Diamond has seen her rise from a security officer to Area Director for North and Scotland. The business is also helping Security Officer Debbie Toole progress to supervisor level. For the mum of three, working was literally a lifesaver as it enabled her to escape an abusive relationship.

We thank these women - and all our colleagues - for the value they bring to OCS and for making our business a diverse and vibrant place to be.

Marianne says: "I am proud that women are recognised as an integral part of the OCS community, bringing a breadth of skills and diversity of thinking to the services we provide for our customers around the world."

#BalanceforBetter #IWD2019 #extraordinarypeople