Signs of progress meet a sentiment that talk needs to be backed up with action.
By and large, people think employers are moving in the right direction, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
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Nearly a third of employees in Ireland (30%) feel that their organisation has made significant progress in boosting DEI.
On inclusion, most people say their organisation does a good job of treating people equally regardless of sexual orientation, gender or race.
But they believe that employers are performing less well when it comes to employees with a disability.
Inclusion is a far more difficult challenge for employers because it isn’t tangible in the same way as diversity. It’s much harder to track, quantify and measure. Lots of organisations are improving when it comes to bringing more diverse talent in, but they haven’t got inclusion right.
People with protected characteristics are still worried about the impact these can have on their career development opportunities.
Age is the factor concerning Irish employees the most. it was cited by 29% as the factor most likely to affect their professional trajectory.
Some are also worried that they might be held back by their sex (17%), pregnancy/potential pregnancy (15%), and family/dependents (13%).
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Nearly 2/3 of respondents say employers are talking about DEI more than they are taking action.
Movements such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo have seen employees baring their souls to their employers about the discrimination they have faced in the workplace and beyond. They’ve emotionally exposed themselves in a way that they would never have done before, and they’ve done so in good faith, in the belief that being a part of these movements and engaging with their employers in this way would lead to real change.
