According to a study by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Black and Latinx professionals make up 15% of the United States tech workforce while being 31% of the total population.
Those numbers seem on par with the internal measurements at large tech companies, as Dell’s latest diversity report shows that 16.1% of their workforce is in those two groups.
With the tech diversity gap still a challenge tech companies are looking to overcome, many inside the IT industry continue to invest in their diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts to improve representation and diversity in their business.
Read More: How to Attract and Hire Diverse Talent in Tech
For those interested in learning how Data and AI can help achieve your company's DE&I goals, Motion Recruitment's community platform Tech in Motion has multiple articles and previous webinars available to help companies and hiring managers build a workplace strategy that will emphasize DE&I at all levels of an orginization.
One of those previous events, Tech in Motion's How Top Tech Companies are Addressing DEI, includes expert guests from Linkedin, Google and Re:work sharing their insights on the practices to create a culture of equity and inclusion, building leadership support for true DE&I priorities, steps to ensure effectiveness and measuring the success of your DEI initiatives, plus many others.
While there have been many headlines written in 2023 and early 2024 about companies reducing or outright dropping DE&I spending, (highlighted by Amazon, Meta and Twitter), when looking at the tech industry as a whole, it's clear that the majority of U.S. tech companies still see the importance of DE&I initiatives.
In fact, 69% of hiring leaders at companies that have a dedicated DE&I budget say they actually increased spending in training and DE&I software in 2023.
Benefits of DE&I Program Development
The uptick in spending on DE&I programs helps drive benefits for businesses as well as minorities. Diverse representation in any organization introduces new skills, talents, ideas, experiences, and perspectives to the company, enhancing overall productivity and innovation.
Research from Gartner shows that average employee performance in diverse organizations is 12% higher than employee performance in non-diverse organizations. In addition, recent studies have shown that teams with highly inclusive leaders have direct reports with 90% higher team innovation, 50% higher team performance, and 140% higher team engagement compared to teams with low inclusive leadership skills.
When it comes to straight dollars and cents, having diverse and inclusive teams has been shown to improve a company’s profitability. A McKinsey study shows that top-quartile companies in ethnic and cultural diversity have consistently outperformed those in the fourth quartile, with up to a 36% difference between the two.
Employee Demand for Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
In addition, workers in the tech industry, especially millennials and members of Gen Z, are looking for companies that align with their values, and that includes fostering an environment that is more inclusive.
Nearly 80% of a survey stated they would prefer to work for a company that values diversity, equity and inclusion issues, while only 33% say their company is doing "a lot" of work in this area.
Meanwhile, companies that don’t prioritize DE&I programs risk losing valuable members of their team, with 50% of 18-28-year-old tech workers leaving or wanting to leave a tech job because the company culture made them feel uncomfortable.
Eliminating the Gap with Organizations Already Diversifying Tech
In the past decade, programs across North America have been founded, aiming to eliminate the tech diversity gap. These organizations, some of which can be found in a previous article, 6 Organizations Diversifying the Tech Industry, work to help candidates learn the needed skills to thrive and team with businesses that can assist them in best practices and find previously underrepresented talent.
As companies are seeing, increasing diversity in their workforce is not only a socially positive endeavor but can improve employee morale and efficiency, plus it can boost a company's profits compared to businesses that choose to stay with an antiquated way of hiring talent. For those looking to impact DE&I at their own companies, taking the first or next step forward with processes or programs can be key to growth.
Working in the mid-to-senior level IT job industry for over 30 years, Motion Recruitment has set itself apart in the technology space by having our recruiters each specialize in a specific department of the tech industry, allowing them to become experts in a particular section of the IT workforce. With offices across the United States and Canada, Motion can help companies and candidates take the next step in the tech market. Contact us now.
February 2024 Update: This article has been updated to include current diversity statistics and news.