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Did you know?
- 50% of women in tech roles quit by the age of 35.
- 32% of women work in tech today, which is lower than what it was in 1984 (35%).
- Due to facing several challenges at their workplaces (like a co-worker getting the credit for their ideas, microaggressions undermining their authority, difficulty in career advancement, etc.), there’s a reduction (28%) in the percentage of women in tech leadership roles in 2023.
The list of startling facts doesn’t end here. In the United States, women make up just 24% of the STEM workforce while it’s a measly 17% in the European Union. Want more? Women hold just 22% of all tech roles across European companies!
These statistics bring us to the question of diversity in IT recruitment. Workplace diversity has been a hot topic for the last few years. But diversity in the IT sector isn’t just about having the ideal male to female ratio at the workplace. It’s much more than hiring just to tick a few boxes.
When done right, a diverse IT workforce can bring several benefits to your business. If you aren’t sure why diversity in IT recruitment matters so much, here’s a glance at what it would mean for your business.
5 Reasons Why Diversity in Tech is Important
According to a forecast by Gartner earlier this year, global IT spending is anticipated to touch $4.7 trillion in 2023, which is 4.3% more than in 2022. This supports the fact that the tech industry will continue to grow at a much more rapid rate than almost all other industries.
With such fast-paced growth, several new roles will be created in the tech sector or the existing roles will change to make them suitable for the changing market trends and demands. But several companies will continue struggling to find and hire talent due to an ongoing skills gap and the unavailability of the number of professionals needed to fill an increasing number of open roles.
This is where diversity in IT recruitment can help. If your business too is struggling to find the right talent for vacant IT roles, you should re-evaluate your hiring processes to eliminate recruitment bias and increase diversity. This will let you beat the skills gap and alleviate the impact it would have otherwise had on your operations.
Additionally, a diverse IT workforce will let you enjoy benefits triggered by increased equality and inclusivity. You can use such diversity to improve your workstreams as well as your company’s performance.
Here are the top five reasons why diversity in IT recruitment is vital.
1. Higher Innovation and Creativity
Diversity within the workplace ensures a variety of different perspectives, thanks to employees from different backgrounds with diverse characteristics, skills, life experiences, and education and work experiences.
When people are exposed to multiple perspectives and can brainstorm to consider different views and opinions, they often collaborate better and are likely to open doors to innovation and creativity. For your company, this will help it get a competitive edge in the market and even outperform competitors.
2. Widens Your Talent Pool
Organisations that practice diversity in IT recruitment can benefit from a larger talent pool than their counterparts who don’t.
If your hiring process embraces diversity, your open roles are likely to gain interest from a wider range of candidates, because an increasing number of people from different backgrounds and with diverse education, skill, and work experiences can relate to them and will feel inclined to apply.
3. Creates a Welcoming Workspace
When your employees feel heard, accepted, cared for, and appreciated for who they are, irrespective of their age, gender, or ethnic background, they feel happier than when they are made to feel like mere cogs in a machine.
When you have happy and satisfied employees, they will be motivated to put their best effort into their allotted tasks, thus benefiting your company with optimal productivity. A past study by Gartner showed that inclusive and gender-diverse teams surpassed their gender-homogeneous, less inclusive counterparts by 50%, on average.
4. Enhances Company Reputation
Diversity in IT hiring enhances your company’s reputation and gives your corporate branding a big boost. Additionally, it makes your company look humane, intriguing, and socially responsible.
All these factors will make it easier for people from different fields and backgrounds (not just IT but even beyond) to relate to your company and your brand, which can open doors to new business partners, markets, and customers.
5. Decreases Employee Turnover
Companies with a diverse IT workforce are usually more inclusive of different individual characteristics and perspectives. This makes their employees feel accepted, valued, and happier.
It’s easier to retain happy and motivated employees since they are a lot less likely to leave prematurely than their disgruntled counterparts. Thus, if you have greater IT diversity within your workplace, you will have lower turnover rates.
Final Words
Diversity in IT recruitment can open doors to innovation and creativity, help you recruit better with access to a broader talent pool, and let you create a welcoming workspace. Additionally, it will boost your company’s corporate branding and market reputation while bringing employee turnover down.
By practising diversity in IT hiring, your company will enjoy flexibility, thus strengthening its capability to deal with changing demands and environments, which are vital to ensuring that your business stays competitive in the global economy.
But diversity hiring in the field of IT shouldn’t be “diversity washing.” Making a one-time high-level diversity hire or creating short-term fellowship or internship programs for traditionally underrepresented groups won’t help much if you don’t provide them with a clear route to meaningful career development.
Instead of relying on the same old forums or job sites for hiring your IT talent that will help you find professionals with similar backgrounds or skills, you can consider hiring an experienced headhunter like those on board InHunt World for diversity hiring in IT.
This article was written by Sonali