The DEI Crusader Who Closes Firm to Save Diversity in Tech

(Bloomberg) — Debbie Forster got so sick of UK technology companies' lack of commitment to diversity that she shut down her organization that aims to foster a more inclusive workforce in the industry. 

Forster is the chief executive officer of the Tech Talent Charter, backed by the UK government with over 700 signatories, including giants such as Microsoft Corp., Accenture Plc, and Cisco Systems Inc. The board decided to close in August after finding some firms were using the charter to feign support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives while quietly quitting their DEI efforts. 

"Companies weren't changing how they do things," said Forster, who co-founded the organization in 2015. "They weren't changing their culture, they weren't changing their processes — and people of underrepresented groups were hitting glass ceilings."

The dissolution of the Tech Talent Charter is the starkest example yet that a retreat from DEI in corporate America is reverberating across the Atlantic. A backlash against such initiatives led by right-wing groups has caused companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Ford Motor Co. to dial back or go quiet on diversity in the US, though until now there were few public signs that large UK firms were also deprioritizing these initiatives.

Related:6 Decades After Civil Rights Act, Racial Pay Gap in IT Persists

While it may seem counter-intuitive to close an organization that aims to promote diversity because of the lack of said diversity, Forster says it was necessary in order to stop firms using the charter as a smokescreen when they were actually going backwards on DEI. 

"We heard of budgets being swallowed, or moved to HR teams, or allocations for DEI efforts were dropping significantly," Forster said in an interview. "We refused to take performative money."

Forster said that companies pushed for more DEI initiatives during what she described as a "perceived tech talent shortage" from 2020, but many are now less interested given cost pressures and layoffs in the sector.

According to the Tech Talent Charter's latest report published in March, there were a smaller proportion of women and ethnic minorities in senior roles compared to last year. Women in particular face a glass ceiling, Forster said, with four in five women telling the nonprofit that they left the tech sector because they struggled to see career progression. 

DEI programs came to the forefront particularly after the Black Lives Matter movement in the US but also in the UK shone a light into how companies are failing to hire and retain underrepresented groups.

Related:Embracing Neurodiversity in IT Workplace to Bridge Talent Gaps

One of the key services provided by the Tech Talent Charter was insight on the racial and gender make-up of the sector. The organization collected diversity data from signatories, which helped form an annual report on diversity in the industry. 

"In the absence of this kind of data being replaced, we just lose a great source of understanding about what companies are doing, what they're struggling with," said Ashleigh Ainsley, co-founder of Colorintech, an organization that looks to increase opportunities for underrepresented groups in the tech industry.

But Forster has a warning for companies pulling back. Data shows that millennials and Gen Z want to work for companies that prioritize DEI. The difficult job market and fear of layoffs might be stopping these younger employees from walking away right now, but they'll regain confidence when hiring picks up. "They'll remember this," she said.