According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women now hold the majority of jobs for the first time in nearly a decade. However, the tech sector is uncharacteristically behind the times. The world’s five largest tech companies (Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft) have workforces comprising only one-third of women.
Diversifying your workplace is shown to benefit team morale as well as the bottom line. A team comprised of different genders, ages, religions, cultures, and sexual orientations can spur innovation and reduce turnover. In an industry that holds innovation as one of its core values, a workforce driven by the broadest possible diversity of backgrounds and ideas is more than beneficial, it’s ideal.
The Importance of Diversity, by the Numbers
Research from McKinsey & Company found that companies in the top quartile for gender and racial diversity are more likely to outperform industry median revenues. Conversely, companies in the bottom quartiles of ethnic and gender diversity are less likely to achieve above-average financial returns.
Diverse companies attract better talent and provide better employee satisfaction, ultimately leading to better performance. And this is supported by the numbers–a recent survey found that diversity matters to 76% of candidates and employees. A diversity of backgrounds leads to a greater diversity of ideas, giving companies a competitive advantage of creativity and allowing them to connect with a wider range of consumers.
A Seat at the Table for Women of Color
One of the most underrepresented groups in the tech world is Women of Color, with only 3% of computing jobs held by Black women and 2% by Hispanic women. Additionally, these women are often relegated to entry-level positions and according to a recent report, “…although it is not always a conscious decision by managers, women of color often report to bosses who are less likely to promote their work and contributions, help them navigate organizational politics, or socialize with them outside of work.” In fact, a recent study revealed that 58 black women are being promoted to a management role for every 100 entry-level men.
Demographics are more than a surface-level issue; rather, a team with diverse backgrounds makes any business stronger.
But what does it take to shift those demographics to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of the marketplace?
Leveraging Data to Meet DEI Goals
Knowing that you can’t change what you don’t measure, data-driven DEI leaders are leveraging their people-data to set recruiting, promotion, and retention goals, and track their progress through each step of the employee life cycle. Up until very recently the only way to do so was to use ATS and HRMS tools that require manual data manipulation, requiring hundreds of hours per year just to process the data.
Included delivers actionable DEI data at lightning speed to provide the exact insights you need when you need them. This means meeting and exceeding your DEI OKRs faster and at a fraction of the cost.
Customers love that our dashboard enables you to detect and resolve inclusive hiring process gaps with AI-driven funnel insights, delivering a 1.5x increase in diverse candidate hiring. To learn more about how Included can future-proof your company through data-driven decision making, schedule a demo today.
