Technology can bridge the workplace diversity gap

After a year that forced the nation to examine its relationship with race and equality, employers are increasingly turning to new technologies to help them gain momentum around diversity and inclusion efforts.

Since last spring’s police killing of George Floyd, corporate America has faced increased pressure to bring significant change to the workplace. Ninety percent of employers said that diversity and inclusion was a top priority for 2021, according to McKinsey.

Employers have turned to technology to help them with the heavy lifting around eliminating recruiting bias and changing corporate culture. These tools are crucial to holding employers accountable and creating a diverse and dynamic workplace.

“We want to fall out of the trap of calling it a trend — it’s up to the employees and the HR department to lead these initiatives and take ownership,” says Natasha Shifrin, global outbound sales director at Hibob, an HR software platform. “Technology allows you to have insights based on real data, so you're making decisions based on fact and not on emotion.”

The COVID pandemic has also been a catalyst for this work. The widespread adoption of remote work and an anticipated hiring frenzy means that employers are turning to virtual recruiting, presenting greater opportunities to expand their talent pool.

Read more: The biggest recruiting trends this year

Seventy percent of employers plan to utilize remote recruiting strategies in 2021, according to a survey by LinkedIn. Artificial intelligence can help ensure that the recruiting experience is equitable from start to finish. The technology, for example, can identify language in job postings that may exclude certain candidates, a critical first step in committing to inclusive hiring efforts.