Percentage of visible minorities in tech jobs falls in 2021 compared with 2020, says report
The hunt for talent within B.C.’s tech sector has been on a tear this past year.
But representation within the sector hasn’t been moving at quite the same clip with a new study revealing diversity within some categories has dropped since 2020.
The percentage of tech workers who identify as visible minorities has dropped from 43.3% to 41% over the past year, according to data released Wednesday by Vancouver-based HR Tech Group.
And a peek into the C-suite reveals an even larger gap: 19% of executives identify as visible minorities compared with 24% a year earlier.
This comes at a time when demand for tech talent has been surging.
An October report from CBRE Group Inc. determined Vancouver is the third fastest-growing tech hub in North America after drawing 12,900 workers (+20.9%) over the past two years.
And Ilya Brotzky, CEO of VanHack Technologies Inc., told BIV in the spring a record number of companies have been tapping his recruitment firm’s services, with 18 jumping on board in a single week in March.
“It’s been crazy, we have never seen things as busy as they are now,” he said.
The HR Tech Group’s data does not indicate there are a fewer number of visible minorities working within the tech sector, but that they now make up a smaller percentage following a year of significant hiring.
Meanwhile, the industry appears to be making small gains in other categories, based on respondents’ answers.
Tech workers who identify as women now make up 33.2% of the sector compared with 31.9% a year ago.
Indigenous workers now account for 0.7% of the industry compared with 0.5% last year, and those who identify as LGBTQ+/two-spirit account for 8.3% of the industry vs. 8.2% last year.
And workers with disabilities make up 2.9% of the tech industry compared with 2.1% in 2020.