Despite big tech's promise for more diversity, a potential economic slowdown may put those

efforts at risk.

From American public media, this is Marketplace Tech.

I'm Kimberly Adams.

We've reported on the mass layoffs and tech that have been happening since last fall.

And that has many in the industry worried about what that means for diversity in tech.

There are now indications a slowdown in hiring could affect industry efforts for more diversity,

equity, and inclusion, or DEI.

According to Textio, a company that helps create job ads across all industries, there

was a 13% drop in HR job listings last year, and a 19% drop in listings for DEI roles.

Many tech companies promise to focus on diversifying their employee rosters following the 2020

murder of George Floyd by police and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests.

Christy Lindor is a diversity strategist and CEO of Tessie Consulting, and warns the tech

industry in particular should be careful about cutting these roles.

We see that about 36% of employees between the ages of 18 to 44 do factor DEI as an important

element when they're looking for new companies.

So while we do see the stall, we do see the decrease.

We think that organizations that have really impacted significantly decreased their DEI

programs.

We think that they're going to see that come to a reckoning in the future.

Because this economic blip really kind of levels out of it.

Many of these big tech firms work quite public about plans to really diversify their employee

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