Over half of businesses are not actively trying to address a lack of diversity in their tech teams, according to research by methree.

A further 40 per cent said they were struggling to recruit diverse entry-level tech talent.

1 in 10 admitted to not having any diversity and inclusion strategy.

The research found that although the remaining businesses have been trying to ensure employees are comfortable and welcome, 20 per cent have received complaints from current or former employees in this regard.

The Diversity in Technology report found that 63 per cent of businesses are aware of a continuing lack of diversity on their tech teams.

Of those, 40 per cent are working to address the issue, while 23 per cent said they don’t know how to change things, and 9 per cent said they had never considered whether they have a diversity problem.

“With so much public discussion around diversity and inclusion, it might be easy to assume that this increased awareness is being translated into action. Unfortunately, this just isn’t true in many cases,” said Becs Roycroft. “Diversity in business is not only proven to be good for businesses themselves, with a recent report by McKinsey showing that ethnically and gender diverse teams are typically more profitable, but also for society. With this in mind, it’s important that organisations look at how they can both attract and retain talent from all backgrounds and walks of life."

She explained: “Diversity targets and an effective inclusion strategy are both crucial to this, so it’s essential that HR professionals ensure that they have both of these initiatives built into their plans for the coming year, rather than failing to acknowledge the disparity or expecting it to correct itself .”

She said that it has been acknowledged for a long time now that technology has a particular issue when it comes to diversity.

“…yet more than half of businesses have still not managed to address this successfully, she said. “While it’s great to see that many are looking for ways to make improvements, it’s concerning that a significant proportion don’t know where to start.”

Roycroft urged businesses to seek expert help, either by recruiting an experienced in-house diversity and inclusion officer, or by working with talent providers that have a keen focus on diversity.

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