The UK tech sector has seen a drop in the number of women in the industry between the first and second quarters of 2023, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Between January to March 2023 (Q1) and April to June 2023 (Q2), the ONS measured a decline of 3,000 women in the tech industry. This is despite the same data showing growth in the industry during the same period.

While the tech industry has grown between the first and second quarter of this year, from 85,000 to 1.73 million workers, this rise appears to not be distributed evenly.

The number of women in tech has fluctuated recently, according to ONS figures: the first quarter of 2022 saw just 447,000 women in tech, which rose to 532,000 in the second quarter of 2022.

Then between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of this year, there was about a 17,000 drop in women in tech, which was then followed by the drop of 3,000.

But the last year in tech has been turbulent – the Q2 to Q3 in 2022 saw growth of 92,000, followed by a drop by 87,000 in Q4.

Women appear to be disproportionately affected by these drops, potentially due to changing business practices.

More companies are calling their workers back into the office and decreasing flexible working arrangements – even Zoom, which peaked in success in large part due to remote working arrangements, have called their workers back into the office.

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Amazon has even allegedly started to penalise workers who work from home more often in an attempt to force workers back into office, according to a report by the Financial Times.

As seen in the pandemic, care responsibilities disproportionately tend to fall on women – removing remote and flexible working options for workers can make it more difficult for women to stay in the workforce if they have children.

Even without this, tech layoffs have fallen the hardest on women, dropping the percentage of women in tech from 22% to just 20.1%. The drop due to layoffs was in direct contrast to the rise in male tech workers over the same period.

With the tech skills gap in dire need of workers across industries, these changing policies can put digital transformation, AI adoption, and innovate at risk if talented tech workers are not able to join the workforce due to changing policies.

Senna Baille, director of community at VeUP, said: “Tech companies should continue to focus on tackling the barriers for women entering the tech field, and showcase the steps they are taking to prove their commitment and heighten the attractiveness of the field.

“A career in tech means that not every day is the same, presenting new challenges and opportunities to learn and grow. Tech companies should mirror this, and in turn cultivate an all-encompassing culture that encourages development and inclusiveness, bettering attitudes across the board.”

Joanna Kori, head of people at Encompass Corporation, said: “While technology-focused skills and expertise remain in demand, this underlines that there is work to be done to bridge the gap, ensuring a truly inclusive industry with a diverse workforce. Women have so much to offer, and organisations within the technology sector must continue to invest in female talent in order to see the benefits.

“To attract and retain females, it is important that businesses are proactive and put the right policies and initiatives in place. This includes focusing on areas such as flexible working, which can be transformative when it comes to enabling women, and all employees, to excel in their careers while enjoying a positive work-life balance.”