Main image of article Are Companies Actually Eliminating Hiring Bias?

For many executives and hiring managers, eliminating bias from their hiring practices is a top priority. But are they succeeding?

Hired’s new 2023 State of Wage Inequality in Tech Report explores that question, and comes back with some good news: based on responses from 229 technology hiring leaders and 1,075 tech employees, the perception of hiring bias at various companies has declined over the past few years. Check out the chart:

But that doesn’t mean hiring bias is a thing of the past: 56 percent of respondents feel that hiring bias is “definitely” or “probably” still present within their organizations:

“Over the past few decades, increased awareness of unconscious bias and its impact on hiring decisions has led to various measures designed to address and mitigate these biases,” added Hired’s report. “Human resources (HR) teams, diversity and inclusion officers, as well as hiring managers, all play a crucial role in combating hiring bias within organizations.”

However, companies might have a long way to go when it comes to their broader Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) efforts. According to Dice’s latest Discrimination in Tech fact sheet, some 36 percent of tech professionals said they were extremely or moderately impressed by their company’s actions related to racial diversity, equity, and inclusion, while 37 percent said the same thing about gender-related efforts—in the case of both race and gender, significantly down from 42 percent the year before.

If that wasn’t potentially distressing enough, some 20 percent of respondents reported they were unimpressed with these racial- and gender-related efforts, up year-over-year from 12 percent. 

Eliminating hiring bias (and improving a company’s DEIB) takes significant amounts of time and effort. However, data suggests that a DEIB policy has a solid impact on a company’s ability to hire and retain talent. By reducing bias, organizations can improve their teams for the long term. If Hired’s data is accurate, many companies are already making solid strides in this direction.