Why IT Departments Lack Diversity Programs- Valutrics

The majority of IT departments and their organizations are doing relatively little to increase workforce diversity, according to a recent survey from TEKsystems. Very few tech pros and leaders, for example, said their company has a formal diversity program in place. They admit that they struggle to find quality talent to fill open IT positions, but they don’t often consider diversity in recruitment efforts—ignoring the value of existing diversity programs which could help close gaps. “While IT departments struggle to find qualified IT workers for their teams, our data indicates that most have yet to leverage diversity programs to help solve that challenge,” said Michelle Webb, director of diversity and inclusion for TEKsystems. “In our conversations with clients regarding diversity initiatives, we’ve found that IT departments are less aware of the value that diversity programs can play in their skills-sourcing efforts when compared to human resources or business leadership. With the shortage of qualified IT workers likely to increase, organizations need to add diversity programs to their arsenal to address their hiring needs.” In addition, the findings reveal differences in perspectives between tech execs and IT pros about the inclusiveness of their working environment and related topics, and we’ve included those here. More than 750 CIOs, IT directors, hiring managers, professionals and other tech leaders took part in the research.