A personal friend of mine who sources candidates for executive roles at Facebook, let me in on a secret. Her job is a whole lot easier if she is able to find a candidate from Google, who has done the exact same role. As a hiring manager do you only look for experienced hires from a specific set of companies or direct competitors? As an employee have you been able to take your skills to another industry?
According to Catalyst, women experienced unprecedented job losses across the world due to the Pandemic. One study of employment and income trends in six countries found that women are 24% more likely to permanently lose their jobs compared to men.
Fortunately for many of us, the technology sector saw much less disruption partly because demand for technology products grew during the pandemic and it was possible to perform many of the jobs remotely. Industries that traditionally employ more women than the tech sector such as retail, travel, and hospitality have been in comparison negatively impacted.
Technology companies have long recruited from within the industry, even in non-engineering roles such as sales, human resources, marketing, and customer service. Should the tech industry be open to “switchers’ in filling a large number of their open positions? According to a blog by Ross Murray , Greg Lewis with insights from Jenny Ying at LinkedIn, in the United States as of December 2020, women lost a net total of 156,000 jobs. As technology giants seek to improve gender diversity in the workplace, now is an ideal time to attract women from outside the tech sector. One approach is Skills-based hiring. Another approach is to ensure that your job description is written to only include the skills you actually need and remove bias. Employers could consider being open to switchers. For example, could someone who had managed brand or customer service in the travel and tourism industry be considered by recruiters in your company? What changes do you recommend as we seek to undo the damage caused by the pandemic?