One in three tech employers only invite men to interviews

It has been proven time and time again that being a diverse company is not the right thing to do, it is also good for business.

This is becoming even more obvious in the ‘Great Resignation’ where employees are quitting their jobs not just for better pay, but also to work for companies that are more closely aligned with their values.

However, many companies are still struggling to create diverse and inclusive workplaces where people are paid the same for the same job no matter their gender or race.

Research into the tech sector by hiring startup Hired found that while the gender and race wage gap is narrowing, it still exists.

Hired analyzed its own data from almost 820,000 interview requests and job offers in the US, UK, and Canada from almost 4,000 companies and found that the gender wage gap currently stands at 1.8%. It rises to 2.8% in the UK, 1.6% in the US, and 2.4% in Canada.

London has the largest wage gap (2.8%), compared to the North American cities measured. Toronto had a 2.7% gap, while Seattle came in highest of the US cities with 2.3%.

The gap is largest in DevOps roles – averaging at 5% across the three regions – it rises to 7.5% in the UK.  Project management roles have the lowest wage gap of 0.4%, in fact, for these jobs, women are often offered higher salaries than men.

The race gap is also narrowing – the widest gap is 1.8% for Black candidates.

Beyond the wage gap

In addition to analyzing the wage gap, Hired’s State of Wage Equality 2022 report measured what it calls the ‘expectation gap’. The idea is that women and people from ethnic minorities often don’t ask for as much money or aren’t offered as high salaries as men.

Hired’s research found that the wage gap and expectation gap were closely linked. Groups who are paid less expect lower salaries. For instance, Hispanic and Black women asked for $0.91 for every $1 that men earned – they often earn $0.93 or $0.94 for every $1 for the same jobs.

London had the largest wage gap between men and women, and it also has the widest expectation gap. Women in London were often asking for 5% less than men when applying for the same positions.

Unfortunately, discrimination didn’t just exist around pay.

Hired’s research identified that while the situation is improving, companies are still more likely to send interview requests to men over women.

38% of companies only invited men to interviews – this is down from 48% in 2018 and 42.4% in 2020. Women received just 17% of all interviews requested on Hired’s platform, and 37% of companies aren’t sending interview requests to any women.

Talking about the findings of the report, Hired CEO Josh Brenner commented: “This report shows that there is still work to be done in ensuring equitable hiring processes to narrow wage and expectation gaps, and companies must prioritize this effort.

“Post [the] ‘Great Resignation’, companies that are successful in identifying non-traditional talent, while also ensuring diversity and representation in their candidate pipelines, will be better positioned to drive their businesses forward in a time of increased volatility.”

Having clearly defined diversity goals around hiring are one solution, others are rethinking the talent pipeline through initiatives like apprenticeship programs or using tech to get rid of bias in the hiring process.