What do diversity and inclusion look like at a growing tech startup focused on accelerating the Global Expansion Industry? Centuro Global share their insights.
According to a June poll on LinkedIn, only 30% of the UK’s leadership roles are led by women. Whilst previously having an executive board that was 37.5% female, Deloitte UK announced on Friday 4th November 2022 that the company has cut half of its senior leadership team. The move will drop the female executive representation to 28.6% – lower than the national average.
On a larger scale, Twitter has also announced that it has put through a round of mass lay-offs of approximately 50% of the total headcount, some 3,700 roles. The move, alongside the disbandment of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), has disproportionately impacted Black and Latin employees who combined had previously made up less than 20% of the organisation.
In fact, The New York Times reported that more than 100,000 tech workers have lost their jobs this year, according to Layoffs. The cuts include well-known publicly traded companies like Meta, Booking.com, and Amazon to highly valued private start-ups. In the coming weeks, we are hoping to review the data on what the demographics of the population of staff made redundant may include. However, it is clear that the current tech talent bubble has burst, and many will feel the impacts of this.
What do diversity and inclusion look like at a growing tech startup focused on accelerating the Global Expansion Industry?
The Global Expansion Industry and Diversity and Inclusion
The global expansion industry is perfectly situated to support diversity, equity, and inclusion. It enables companies to grow and succeed in new markets, access talent from every corner of the world, and create a global mindset through an “intrepreneur” lens. Successful expansion requires a market-entry analysis through which organisations must consider the cultural fit of their product or service with the local audience as part of their go-to-market strategy.
Authors Aaron McDaniel and Klaus Wehage recently launched their book Global Class, which helps to outline and identify the steps needed to successfully enter new markets. They characterize the mindset and strategies of the world’s most successful companies and provide insights into what companies can do to scale globally by focusing locally.
When building an organisation, having diverse teams helps support this analysis by sharing many voices and perspectives, and allowing for more direct access to global expertise. Ultimately, when considering any changes within the organisation, like the recent cuts and layoffs at many global organisations, it is also important to consider who will be impacted by the change and if there will be a disproportionate impact on team diversity.
Whilst Twitter has removed the need for roughly 50% of its global positions, 90% of its jobs within India alone have been impacted, for example.
Remote Work as a Diversity and Inclusion Consideration
The pandemic accelerated the move toward remote working, making it a popular trend for companies globally. In a more globalised world, people are being hired across borders via Employer of Record solutions, and many companies continue to improve and diversify their remote work policies.
However, some companies are also increasingly critical of the move to remote work. In mid-November 2022, just a few days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired Twitter, he announced that they will be scrapping Twitter’s remote working policy. Workers will now be expected to attend the office for up to 40 hours per week. The exemptions to this will require approval from Elon Musk himself.
However, an important argument for the positive impacts of remote working is that it helps to alleviate excess stress for a large demographic of workers. For example, for many women, the opportunity to work remotely or to work from home helps to advance them in their careers. This is because it helps to remove some of the pressures of childcare options, and can help to reduce costs for many households. Additionally, many workers and employees benefit from not spending weekly fees on commuting.
The accessibility of remote work also provides candidates with disabilities to apply for roles, as well as disadvantaged candidates who may not be able to afford high rental costs or transport costs into large metropolitan cities. Global expansion often leads to a diversity of thought through diverse teams, and when supporting a DE&I, it can have an influence on organisational culture and impact other businesses. The Global expansion industry also helps to accelerate the move to remote work and make it more accessible to global candidates.
At Centuro Global, we value and celebrate diversity by sharing thought leadership featuring industry experts, challenging others, and creating a great and diverse work environment. We help to enable remote work and help companies to compliantly hire and manage global teams.
Want to know more about us? Here is some of our representation:
“I want to ensure that all of the Intrepreneurs, Dreamers and Innovators can share their spark and their ideas with the world, and show that it doesn’t matter where you come from, it only matters where you are going.” – Zain Ali, CEO @ Centuro Global Expansion Conference 2022
If you want to join our team – we’re hiring!
At Centuro Global, we’ve been fortunate enough to go against the grain of 2022, and are actively growing. As a result, we are looking to hire multiple hungry, talented, driven people including:
Whether you’ve been unfortunately made redundant or have been impacted by the mass tech layoffs or you’re simply hungry for your next challenge, let’s have a chat. Interested applicants can share their CVs at hello@centuroglobal.com.
