DEI rollbacks could exacerbate tech talent shortages – nearly half of recruitment leaders worry diversity cuts will impact their company’s appeal and employee retention

Finding talent with AI skills has already become a major challenge for enterprises, but with some enterprises shelving DEI hiring practices, research suggests the situation could get worse.

In General Assembly’s State of Tech Talent report, two-thirds of recruitment leaders said hiring candidates with AI skills is more challenging than recruiting for other tech roles.

This means many enterprises have to pay more to secure talent, with 68% saying they usually have to offer higher salaries to candidates with AI skills, up from 64% last year.

Meanwhile, virtually all said that it's harder today than three years ago to find qualified candidates with both the soft and technical skills needed.

The study found three-quarters of tech hiring leaders are also worried they're hiring skilled AI workers too quickly and without taking time to build a sustainable, diverse pipeline of talent.

"To move forward, we need to build an AI economy that uplifts everyone — employees and companies alike," researchers advised.

"That requires upskilling and reskilling employees for an AI-powered future of work and building more sustainable entry-level pathways into technical careers."

DEI in the spotlight in the AI era

Notably, six-in-ten organizations said the increased focus on AI skills has heightened the need for diversity initiatives.

Building teams with a broad array of backgrounds has proven beneficial when it comes to successfully implementing AI strategies. Yet despite this, around 4% of HR professionals surveyed said their company had scaled back or eliminated their focus on DEI in tech hiring over the past year.

Hiring leaders aren't happy about this, however, and are concerned this could lead to greater problems down the line. Around half believe this could raise costs per-hire or lead to higher employee turnover.

These concerns are warranted. Analysis from Deloitte, for example, found a significant portion of Millennial and Gen Z employees are more likely to stay at a firm longer if it boasts a diverse workforce.

Nearly half (45%) of respondents warned candidates will see their company as a less desirable place to work. This aligns with research from Glassdoor, which found prospective employees are more likely to accept a job with employers that align with their values on DEI.

The topic of DEI in tech has come to the fore in recent months, with a host of major tech firms including Google, Meta, and Amazon scaling back or scrapping diversity policies.

Naturally, these moves have sparked intense criticism from industry stakeholders and raised concerns among minority groups across the sector.

Execs aren’t clued up on AI

Elsewhere, the study found there are skills-related issues at the top of many enterprises. Most VPs and directors, for example, said they’d never had any training on the topic of AI.

Only four-in-ten executives said they were very or extremely confident they know how to use AI tools without compromising company data, and more than a quarter said they were not very or not at all confident.

Around two-in-five admitted they lacked the knowledge to make decisions when it comes to hiring vendors that use AI.

Daniele Grassi, CEO of General Assembly, said this underlines the need to upskill executives to prepare for the ‘AI era’.

“Technical and non-technical leaders alike must understand the legal, privacy and ethical implications of AI use," Grassi said.

"They need to know how to evaluate AI vendors, how to protect company data, and how to guide their teams on using AI in their work. Companies who don’t establish AI usage policies and upskill executives on AI face consequences ranging from data and privacy breaches to competitive disadvantage."

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