Signing up for the Tech Talent Charter: Our Commitment to Diversity in Tech
Earlier this week, we announced that we have signed up to the Tech Talent Charter (TTC), showing our commitment to ensuring we continue to recruit in a diverse and inclusive way. We join over 300 companies such as the BBC, Nationwide, Unilever, and Microsoft in becoming signatories of this Charter.
Founded by various organisations across recruitment, tech and social enterprise, the TTC is a fantastic initiative that looks to balance the inequalities within the tech industry. Every company who becomes a signatory, shares the same goal: building a more diverse workforce across the UK.
Addressing the problem with diversity in tech
With an estimated 600,000 vacancies in digital technology in the UK, it’s clear that we as a sector aren’t attracting all of the talent available. Currently, just 19% of UK IT professionals are female and just 15% of the UK’s overall tech workforce are from BAME backgrounds. As well, 30% of LGBTQ+ young people in the UK state that they would not consider a career in science or technology due to the fear of discrimination.
The tech sector has a diversity issue; more needs to be done to ensure people see the tech industry as one where they can flourish and develop, no matter who they are.
”The importance of greater inclusion and diversity in tech is, thankfully, no longer up for debate,” says Debbie Forster, CEO of the Tech Talent Charter. “Sectors and organisations now need to work together to shift the dial – and this will happen a lot quicker if we pool our successes, failures, ideas and learn from them to bring about real structural change.”
Why We Signed Up to the Tech Talent Charter
It was statistics like those mentioned above that led us to seeing we could be doing more to take a stand.
We recognise the importance of hiring in a diverse way – currently, over 50% of #TeamHable are women, with women also making up 60% of our Leadership Team – but we know that diversity and inclusion needs to go a lot further than this. There is always more we can do.
“For us at Hable, this is about continuing to build a culture of respect and inclusion,” says Sarah Mann, our Head of Learning and Accessibility. Inclusion is really important to us, and we want to make sure that each and every person at #TeamHable feels they are given equal opportunities and encouraged to be themselves at work.
We also want to make sure we’re continuing to recruit diverse talent. After all, there are endless benefits to ensuring our workforce is diverse.
“Signing up to the Charter helps us to ensure we don’t miss out on talent, and how we nurture that talent effectively,” Sarah continues. “We know that greater diversity, leads to greater innovation and, helps us learn from one another.”
We’re delighted to be involved in the TTC and look forward to working with them and other signatories on this fantastic cause.
