by Ray Hayes
We can all agree that diversity in tech is a big problem. Asian Americans represent about 14 percent of tech employees while Hispanics, women and black Americans represent an even smaller percentage. While many programs have been created to solve the issue, most have resulted in little to no change in increasing techs diversity. Still the few that have made a difference are taking advantage of the opportunity and benefiting from the tech industry’s weakness.
Teamable, a San-Francisco based recruiting startup, is one example. The startup has partnered with the transportation service, Lyft, and has helped diversify its engineering team. Since the two have partnered together, Lyft has more than doubled its hiring of minority engineers. According to the Mercury News, “Teamable, a three-year-old startup that on Wednesday said it brought in $5 million in its first fundraising round, uses technology to make employee referrals more inclusive.”
Jopwell and PayScale are two more startups who are taking advantage of the diversity opportunity. Jopwell has a database full of job applicants which are more than 68 percent women and the applicants profiles are offered to prospective employers blindly, meaning without a name or photo, to prevent unconscious bias. PayScale, on the other hand, “makes it easy for employers to root out gender wage gaps in their company. Not only can employers see whether women are making less money than men with the same job titles, they also can see whether women hold disproportionately fewer high-paying titles.”
Even though diversity in tech is a big problem, it is also a big opportunity for the savvy entrepreneur.