Diversity & Inclusion in Digital: Is it improving?

It’s time to discuss diversity & inclusion in the digital industry. For the first time in our annual digital salary survey questionnaire, we asked respondents about all things diversity. We wanted to know if their businesses cultivated an inclusive environment. It is always important to know how professionals feel about representation and opportunities in the industry.

Once again, we have featured the topic in the 2024 digital salary survey report to see what has changed in the last 12 months. In particular, we wanted respondents to rank the efforts of their business and the diversity of the workforce. To get into more detail, we will be sharing exclusive data to show what employees think compared to business leaders. Are those who should be implementing a solid D&I policy on the same page as those who live it every day?

Are organisations actively promoting diversity & inclusion in digital?

81% of respondents feel that their company is working hard to promote diversity and inclusion. It’s great to see a majority of respondents who share this sentiment. An important aspect of diversity and inclusion is not just to touch on it at certain times, but to always include it in business strategy and communications.

As mentioned, our questionnaire posed these questions to both employees and digital leaders/business owners. Are they all on the same page?

As we can see, it looks like they mostly are! Digital leaders rank the efforts slightly higher, perhaps believing they are taking great strides to improve diversity & inclusion.

Despite the similar scores, it still indicates that company-wide recognition of better D&I policies is necessary across the digital industry. With 16% of business leaders believing that the company does not strive to promote diversity, it shows that no matter the seniority level, there will always be conversations to be had to ensure everyone feels included and that the business is recognised as one that champions diversity.

How do digital professionals rank workforce diversity?

This year, we introduced a new question where we asked respondents to rank workforce diversity. While it’s commendable for an organisation to demonstrate commitment to diversity and inclusion, does this commitment truly show in business practices?

From our respondents overall, the average rank was 6.2/10. It’s not the highest score in the world, suggesting that there is still room for improvement. Given the multitude of benefits that diverse teams bring, ranging from enhanced innovation to better decision-making, striving for higher ratings could signify a stronger commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace culture.

So, is it something employees and business leaders feel they are striving towards? Once again, the scores are not dissimilar.  We can conclude that across digital companies, diversity must be evident in different teams and at the C-Suite level. These scores suggest that our respondents don’t feel this is the case just yet!

Diversity in the C-suite is crucial as it sets the tone for the entire organisation, influencing policies, priorities, and culture. When leadership reflects diversity, it fosters innovation, empathy, and better decision-making, ultimately driving success in a rapidly evolving global landscape. With this said, we hope to see both scores increase in the next 12 months.

Want more digital industry insights?

Stay tuned! We will be focusing on the diversity & inclusion topic in upcoming blogs. You can find out more on this topic in the full report. All of this, plus many more exclusive insights. Download your free digital copy now!