Let's talk about Diversity in Startups 🌈

There has been a global spike in searches for ‘diversity and inclusion manager’ over the last 15 years, with interest in the term growing by 200% in 2020.

Between August 2018 and August 2019, online job postings for diversity and inclusion roles soared. Glassdoor saw a 30% rise in the US and a massive 106% rise in the UK. Searches by job-seekers were also up by 35% in the US and 19% in the UK. LinkedIn data reveals that in June 2020 alone, more than half a million members and over a hundred thousand companies created a D&I post.

Clearly, the world is taking diversity and inclusion extremely seriously.

So why this change? 

The fire that was started by the extremely vocal younger workforce has now caught on to the older generations as well. This is not just at the workplace, but also at the consumer level. Reports show that the majority of people across all markets, age groups and incomes say they must be able to trust a brand to do what is right. The number of consumers making their purchasing decisions based on personal diversity beliefs has risen significantly.

An Edelman report on brands and trust has revealed that 69% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that are more committed to being involved in diversity and inclusion issues.

In fact, some of the biggest brands in the West now boast of massive diversity in their employment. 

Take the Walmart example

The big-box retailer is the largest U.S. employer with a workforce of about 1.53 million people. While nearly 75% of Walmart employees in officer roles are white, about 25% roles are held by people of colour — including 8.42% held by Black or African-American employees, as of 31st Jan, 2021.

Who’s leading the change? 

Europe is definitely leading the way. 

The UK already employs almost twice as many D&I workers (per 10,000 employees) as any other country. The country has seen a 58% increase in the number of diversity and inclusion (D&I) roles available over the past five years. UK is joined by Ireland, Switzerland, UAE and Germany as part of the top ten countries globally to employ the most D&I workers.

• Total retail sales 17% above pre-pandemic levels 
• Housing market jumped 19.4% in March 
• U.S. Stock market rose 24% since the election
• Since January, the US economy has added 1,384,000 jobs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics - more jobs in the first 100 days than any president on record. 
• 42 Executive order signed in 100 days - second highest since Roosevelt (1933). 
• Covid-19 cases down by 73%. 
• Economy expected to grow 7.5% this year - most since 1984, as per Morgan Stanley 

• Tesla aims to to turn every household into a power plant - generating, storing and delivering electricity back to the grid. 
• Toyota is buying Lyft’s autonomous car division for $550 million.
• U.S. and Japan to jointly invest $4.5 billion to develop 6G in a race against China. 
• Biden plans to announce a $200 billion program to make pre-school free for all Americans.  
• Splitwise - the app that helps you divvy up expenses - raises $20 million in Series A funding.
• Uber's new feature now lets you make an appointment for a vaccine and then book a cab to get there.
• Researchers claim social media algorithms to generate revenues pose existential threat to individual thought and democracy, per a Senate hearing. 
• The family of deceased Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee to pay $10.78 billion in inheritance taxes for the estate of the late patriarch.