As I told the The Wall Street Journal there is no more profound impact awaiting the HR and recruiting space than the pending decision on affirmative action.
I spoke with Chip Cutter for his latest article about the potential effect of this decision on DEI recruiting efforts and what we’re hearing from employers on Handshake.
Overall, there is a united, compelling interest from companies on the platform for diversity in the workplace. The business case for continuing to invest in cultivating and building diverse workplaces remains strong – greater business outcomes and a competitive edge for recruiting the next generation of workers. In our surveys, over 50% of students tell us a company’s diversity commitments are a priority factor in their search.
Now, as CHROs think through the potential impacts of the court decision, discussions are being prompted around how to approach diversity in early talent recruiting.
My piece of advice for this group?
Expand and diversify the schools and institutions they recruit from. Companies that recruit heavily or exclusively from the top elite institutions may be recruiting from a less diverse applicant pool. The same can be true for companies that recruit from large, selective public universities, depending on the makeup of the in-state population.
While companies have started to expand their recruiting efforts beyond traditional core sets of schools, they’ll now likely need to accelerate that shift to ensure they’re getting a representative applicant pool.
Handshake’s mission to democratize access to first job opportunities remains unchanged, and as relevant as ever. We’re looking forward to continuing to help companies build relationships with students from all backgrounds on our platform.
