Tech Talent Charter launch: Diversity is good for UKplc

We were delighted to be part of the launch this morning of the Tech Talent Charter, an employer-led initiative aimed at driving diversity in the UK’s tech workforce. Nearly one hundred organisations - both tech companies and tech users, including TechMarketView – have already signed up to the charter to show their commitment to supporting recruitment and retention policies that are designed to increase workforce diversity.

The charter is supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and techUK and as the Rt. Hon. Matt Hancock MP, Minister of State for Digital, said at the launch this morning, it is an excellent fit with the government’s UK Digital Strategy, which received fresh impetus from yesterday’s Budget.

Indeed, several of the speakers at the launch, led by the CEO of Tech Talent Charter Debbie Forster MBE, made the point that diversity in the workforce isn’t just a ‘nice’ thing to do, it’s good for business and good for ‘UK plc’ too. There is plenty of evidence that diverse organisations perform better than their non-diverse peers. But it’s perhaps more important to highlight that as competition for tech talent intensifies further – as it will do with all businesses, from farms to charities, becoming increasingly ‘digital’ – recruiting and retaining the best talent is only going to get more difficult. And, as Matt Hancock said so eloquently this morning, “You can’t catch all the opportunity if you only fish in half the pool”.

We won’t close the UK productivity gap or truly make the UK a ‘tech nation’ unless we make UK tech workplaces more diverse and inclusive, and that starts with encouraging more women and girls into the industry.

To learn more and sign your organisation up to the Tech Talent Charter visit techtalentcharter.co.uk.

Posted by Tola Sargeant at '12:12' - Tagged: policy   diversity