3.23.2007 - 04:30pm ET

(CSRwire) ABBOTT PARK, IL - March 23, 2007 — Abbott has been named to DiversityInc magazine's annual "Top 50 Companies for Diversity" list for the fourth consecutive year.

"We believe that diverse perspectives combined with shared goals inspire new and better ways of addressing changing health care needs," said Steve Fussell, senior vice president, Human Resources, Abbott. "Our philosophy is to embed diversity and inclusion in every facet of the employee experience."

"Abbott is much different from the average corporation; it is a true champion of diversity," said Luke Visconti, partner and cofounder of DiversityInc, a monthly business magazine and daily web site. "A total of 317 companies competed for a spot and in its seventh year, the DiversityInc Top 50 is the largest competition of its kind."

About Abbott's Diversity Practices

During 2006, Abbott worked to extend its diversity and inclusion strategy and continued ongoing work in three areas: hiring and advancement, leadership development, and culture and environment. The Abbott Executive Inclusion Council, led by Chairman and CEO, Miles D. White, oversees the company's diversity and inclusion efforts, monitors the hiring and advancement of women and minorities in management, and supports programs that promote an inclusive work environment for all employees.

More than 6,300 employees participate in Abbott's employee networks, which play a vital role in building more diverse leadership within Abbott. These include: Women Leaders in Action, Black Business Network, Asian Cultural Leadership Network, Part-Time Network, LA VOICE Network (Hispanic/Latino) and the Latino/Iberoamerican Network. By focusing on career development, mentoring, informal networking and work-life integration, Abbott's active networks offer leadership and expanded advancement opportunities for women and minorities. Each network is sponsored by a member of senior management who helps align the group’s objectives with Abbott's business strategy.

Minorities at Abbott make up more than one-quarter (26 percent), and women nearly one-half (47 percent), of Abbott's total U.S. workforce. Abbott has increased the number of women in management by 64 percent and the number of minorities in management by 68 percent over the past five years. Abbott also aggressively recruits female and minority science talent. During the past five years, Abbott has filled 53 percent of its entry-level science positions with women and 28 percent with minorities.

Part of Abbott's diversity and inclusion efforts focus on recruitment of entry-level talent through campus initiatives and university partnerships. Outreach to minorities and women is ongoing through various organizations at schools in the areas of science, engineering, information technology, finance and MBA programs.

About DiversityInc

DiversityInc is a monthly business magazine, launched in 1997, with a daily web site, www.DiversityInc.com. The DiversityInc "Top 50 Companies for Diversity" list is a purely editorial process and is completely independent of any business conducted with the company. The list is determined solely from a comprehensive survey of diversity management that measures CEO Commitment, Human Capital, Corporate Communications and Supplier Diversity.

The complete list of recognized companies is published online at www.DiversityInc.com/top50 and will be in the June issue of DiversityInc magazine.

Abbott's Premier Employer Rankings

Abbott's longstanding commitment to workplace diversity and inclusion has helped the company earn recognition as one of the "Top 50 Companies for Black MBAs to Work" based on research focused on company diversity conducted by Black MBA magazine. A survey was administered to 1,551 companies, most of which were FORTUNE 1000 corporations.

In addition to being recognized among the country's best employers for diversity, Abbott has been named to the Top 10 among the "50 Best Places to Launch a Career" by BusinessWeek magazine. Abbott has also earned recognition as one of the Top 10 companies on Working Mother magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" in 2006. In addition, Abbott has been named to The Scientist magazine's list of "Best Places to Work in Industry" and Princeton Review's "Best Entry Level Jobs." FORTUNE has also repeatedly recognized Abbott as one of the “Best Companies for Minorities” and as one of "America's Most Admired Companies" every year since the list's inception in 1983.

About Abbott

Abbott is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The company employs 65,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries.

Abbott's news releases and other information are available on the company's Web site at www.abbott.com.

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