Diversity in Tech Companies Through Stealth Recruitment

Technology is essential for modern-day life. A buzzword we have come to hear all too often is advancement, especially in media, which is centered around technology and all the new things that happen within it. We, as a society, have come so far with technology in such a short period of time that companies and consumers now feel it is hard to surpass this stage of advancement. 

Tech comes in many different forms, from software to hardware, and can be found everywhere you look. Smart appliances are a recent popular addition to people’s homes, but tech has long expanded to medicine, socializing, education, recreation, and even exercise. It is safe to say the industry is here to stay thanks to the influence its products have had on everyone. 

The leaders of the tech industry are global tech companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung. All of these are worth billions of dollars and dominate the playing field that is the tech market, making it hard for newcomers to gain traction amongst consumers. 

These large corporations also dominate employment, with them having countless locations all across the world, providing jobs to thousands, if not millions, of people. There is also a snowball effect on these companies, opening up opportunities to job search boards, freelancers, and so on. 

Recruitment at these companies has skyrocketed over the past years due to the high demand for employees and the increased turnover rates we’ve been seeing lately as newer generations enter and morph work habits globally. 

It isn’t just the turnover rates that have been changing lately but also fundamental work habits such as working from the office. It may seem counterintuitive for a tech company to enforce office work, except that was the reality until not long ago. The ease of technology changed a lot, but the deciding factor in switching the majority of work to the home office came from lockdowns forcing everyone home. 

Younger tech workers have brought high turnover rates with them, as mentioned above. This is due to less company loyalty being felt all around. The lack of loyalty comes from fewer opportunities for internal growth within most companies since it costs less for them to lose you than keep you, meaning they try to keep the best of the best working at their companies. 

The wide-ranging switch to the home office also meant recruitment joined in on the transition. The geographical location of offices and employees has lost its importance, instead being replaced with a wider pool of potential candidates and heightened efficiency and outcomes during the working process.

The talent pool has increased alongside turnover rates, but those aren’t the only things that changed for the better. The attractiveness of certain offers has also increased for candidates who are looking for the comfort of a fully remote job due to its full range of flexibility. Most tech companies offer a variety of working options to maximize the company’s potential output.

All these changes seem to be going in a positive direction, but there is one fact about tech companies that need to (and can be) changed. Diversity is still at a loss with these companies. This issue isn’t only due to faulty recruitment processes; it goes to a deeper sociological level. Women and many minorities enter STEM less frequently due to a lack of access, opportunities, and societal norms that negatively affect progress.

We mentioned turnover rates earlier and talked about why it happens. A leading factor for turnover rates is also unfair treatment at the workplace, which is something many individuals that would “diversify” a company have to unfortunately experience.

There are different types of diversity that can exist. Gender diversity is a constant issue in tech, with the most hired individuals being caucasian males. The thing holding women back from entering tech is the lack of role models and mentors across the board. There is also ethnic, religious, age, disability, and cultural diversity. 

The other two leading issues in diversity include age and ethnic diversity. Companies often hire younger people with the notion they are more tech-savvy. This closes opportunities off for older individuals who are just as capable and are looking to continue working. Ethnic minorities have been seeing inequalities in wages globally at various tech companies.

Now the question of what solution to these issues may have come up. The answer is stealth recruitment. Recruiting can be a daunting task for companies since competitiveness is extremely high for tech candidates, and they need to be making enticing offers for job seekers who may want to work for them. 

Creating strong onboarding processes facilitates the operation of assimilating a new recruit into the team, but with elaborate online onboarding plans, it can easily be achieved. The reason these processes are so important is for employee retention. 

Stealth recruitment can start during the academic years, with diverse students immediately being enrolled in classes that relate to technology, such as photography. From photography, the lessons, for example, morph into photoshop and then into programming to understand how this photography software works. 

Stealth recruitment also helps tech companies scout out passive candidates or people who need some extra convincing to join the tech world. This is done by garnering interest in the subject as well as providing a likable job offer. 

Recruitment can still prove challenging if tech companies decide to do it themselves rather than through a third party. There are more possibilities for companies to miss out on strong hires just because of timing. Testing candidates is also a difficult part of tech recruitment. Candidates need to complete coding tests to showcase their abilities and knowledge of tech. 

The key to tech recruitment is building relationships not only to increase potential diversity at the workplace but also because keeping the talent pool varied is important in advancing the industry. Even if companies aren’t hiring, they hire candidates to be able to easily fill spontaneous vacancies.

Overall, stealth recruitment can easily be used to positively diversify a tech company and boost a company’s market share through faster advancements and better quality output. 

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