Economic volatility hampers diversity
A recently released report by Hired, a tech and sales jobs platform, highlights how economic instability has derailed progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within organizations. Despite the efforts of hiring leaders, the report reveals that recruitment bias continues to persist in 56% of industries.
In the tech industry, the “2023 Impact Report: State of Wage Inequality in the Tech Industry” emphasizes the ongoing existence of hiring bias. In 2022, 38% of positions only extended interview requests to men, marking an increase from the 37% reported in 2021.
Hired CEO, Josh Brenner, commented on the current state of affairs, stating, “Recent economic volatility, concerns regarding the impact of automation and AI on jobs, and the implementation of salary transparency laws have caused significant disruption within the tech workforce. Regrettably, many companies have deprioritized DEI initiatives, while wage inequality continues to disproportionately affect underrepresented groups.”
The report identifies the most prevalent hiring biases as gender bias at 17%, followed by racial bias at 12%, and age bias at 11%. Furthermore, certain demographic groups, such as women and racial and ethnic minorities, face a disproportionate impact from wage bias.
Additionally, the report uncovers how economic instability has hindered the progress of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives among the surveyed organizations. Approximately 20% of respondents reported scaling back their DEI initiatives, while 12% expressed concerns that continued economic challenges may jeopardize their DEI programs.
Despite these setbacks, the report indicates that 99% of recruiters are actively working to ensure fairness in their hiring practices. Moreover, 59% of recruiters believe that hiring bias has significantly decreased compared to three years ago.
The survey utilized proprietary data from Hired’s platform spanning from January 2018 to December 2022. Additionally, it incorporated survey responses from 229 tech hiring leaders and 1075 tech employees and job seekers in the United States.
