Despite recent efforts to increase diversity in tech, the hiring and retention rates of underrepresented groups in the industry remain abysmal. Even Facebook, with billions in cash, has only been able to increase their number of women employees from 31% to 36% over the last five years.
How My Company Created an Apprenticeship Program to Help Diversify Tech
Despite recent efforts to increase diversity in tech, the hiring and retention rates of underrepresented groups in the industry remain abysmal. At Treehouse, an online school that helps companies hire developers and designers, the author was seeing the same problem. When he took a look at my workforce two years ago, he didn’t see a diverse team. Even though they were following the typical playbook — posting open positions on job boards that specialize in attracting candidates from underrepresented groups, sponsoring events, giving scholarships, and training our employees on inclusion and hidden bias – they weren’t seeing progress. The company decided to create a pilot apprenticeship program to create and grow a sustainable diverse talent pipeline separate from that of college graduates.