Diversity in tech continues to be a hot button issue, not just for the moral implications of equality, but to drive business success – but how is the UK fairing after DEI initiatives have been implemented across the board, and as GenZ continues to enter the workforce.

GenZ, or generation Z, represents the generation falling between 26 and 11, born between the years 1997 to 2012, depending on who you ask.

Defined as digital natives, GenZ are known for their social media savvy, commitment to social justice issues, and care for spending some of their key developmental years in the pandemic.

Now spanning the entire swath of 18 to 26 year olds, generation Z have formally entered the workforce, and have reportedly brought their values with them.

GenZ have been found to search for companies which share their values, have viable ESG priorities, and are committed to diversity and inclusion.

But how is this playing out with the youngest generation in the workforce?

Wiley Edge, the tech recruitment company, released their 2023 Diversity in Tech report, focusing again on GenZ’s experience of gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic diversity in one of the UK’s wealthiest industries.

Education and Employment: Bridging the Gap

Many GenZ are struggling to enter the tech workforce, with over half (54%) saying it took them between four and nine months to secure their first role in the industry. Two thirds (62%) said it was harder to secure their role than expected.

Businesses say they are struggling to find the right talent, with over two thirds (68%) reporting it a challenge to hire digital workers.

Research exposed a gap that may be contributing to this conundrum, with nearly half (45%) of business saying that candidates for entry-level positions often lacked the core technical skills required for a job, despite holding a relevant degree.

Because of this skills gap, some 42% of companies are opting to cut the number of roles requiring a degree in an effort to expand their talent pool, with 53% of companies considering doing the same over the next year for certain roles.

Still, one in three (27%) of businesses are saying they exclusively hire from top universities, which already have their own diversity shortages.

These varying tactics have often left GenZ workers in the lurch, confused on their best route into the business.

Prolonged discussions about the digital skills shortage have brought on the proliferation of many tech and coding bootcamps, which may be enough for GenZ to enter certain roles, but not necessarily progress or compete against those with degrees.

Further, some GenZ may have the perception that a computing science degree is enough to secure a role, but businesses appear to have lost faith in purely traditional forms of tech education.

Despite all this, GenZ are still aiming for roles at some of the biggest tech companies, even though the mass layoffs of 2023 showed these roles to not necessarily offer the stability one might hope for.

Diversity and Inclusion: Perception vs Reality 

While 40% of companies in the report admitted they lacked gender diversity, 41% lacked ethnic diversity, and 31% lacked neurodiversity, and 34% lacked socio-economic diversity, 21% claimed to be making no attempts to address their diversity issues.

However, 42% of businesses knew they lacked diversity and actively sought to achieve greater balance across gender, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity.

Around half (47%) of businesses said they implemented initiatives to expand the available talent pipelines, 40% said they did so to increase productivity, and 42% to promote innovation and creativity.

This evidences that the business benefit to DEI initiatives is becoming more apparent.

Some of the most common initiatives companies are adopting revolve around diversity target strategies, including anti-bias training for recruiters (43%), neutral job descriptions (44%), and blind CV (31%).

These efforts are not lost on GenZ tech workers, with only 6% feeling that diversity was not a priority to their employer during their own recruitment journey.

Moreover, a third (34%) believed that diversity was also a significant focus of their recruitment efforts, and 42% notices more efforts recently.

Overall, businesses that do not employ diversity recruitment measures appear to be outliers, and genZ appear to recognise these efforts.

Recommended

• Gen Z Struggling to Start Careers in Tech
• What Do GenZ Think of the Future of Tech?
• How Do Young Tech Workers Feel About AI?

But working towards diversity is only half the battle: inclusion is key to retention.

Three in five (60%) of GenZ tech workers are reporting feeling uncomfortable in a role due to their gender (12% of men vs 33% of women), ethnicity (16%), socio-economic background (14%), or neurodevelopmental condition or other disability (25%).

The reasons for this uncomfortable feeling range from a lack of diversity in the room, a lack of mentors or support, bias treatment, or unwelcoming culture.

Overall, 46% of respondents cited a lack of personal support as the primary cause of their negative experience.

Still, 78% of GenZ workers still claimed to have a mostly positive exprience in the industry so far, with 58% attributing this t0 enjoyment of their work and 49% finding their work interesting.

Further, 54% said they had received either professional or personal support in their roles. Part of this might come from employee resource groups, where employees form groups based on shared characteristics.

35% of businesses surveyed had at least one of these groups, up from 32%, perhaps contributing to a more positive work culture.

Despite all of these initiatives and more positive reports from GenZ tech workers, 76% of businesses reported that they still lack diversity within their teams.

“It’s encouraging to see the beginnings of a success story start to emerge, as employers of tech talent take action and introduce strategies to help improve workforce diversity,” Khadijah Pandor, head of partnerships, EMEA & NA, at Wiley Edge, commented:

“The positive outcomes that many employers are seeing only reinstates the value of this type of work, setting a positive example for other industries facing challenges to follow suit.

“However, there is still more to be done to encourage talent from diverse backgrounds to consider and feel equipped to pursue a career in tech.”