Project Include is an organization focused on America’s vast and ever-growing high-tech employment realm.
The enterprise is a nonprofit advocacy group, with its mission statement underscoring its efforts “to accelerate diversity and inclusion solutions in the tech industry.”
That means that: fostering an equal playing field for tech employees of every persuasion. The singular employment realm has long been marked by a heavily dominant white male presence, and Project Include supports greater industry Project placement for a materially expanded demographic. That centrally includes women, people of color, transgender workers and other individuals.
Candidly, how is that goal working out? Is it being meaningfully achieved?
Readers will likely be disappointed by what is necessarily an equivocal answer. On the one hand, the tech sphere has made solid strides in recent years with inclusionary efforts. On the other hand, though, relevant data still point to what is an overall dismal performance.
And what Project Include points to, as noted in a recent article by the business publication Marketplace, is this: “Underrepresented workers in the industry are experiencing greater stress and more incidents of harassment and hostility,” especially during the lengthily imposed COVID-19 restrictions.
Put another way: Thousands of underrepresented tech workers report that harassing and discriminatory behaviors targeting them have spiked over the past year while they have worked from home in front of their computers.
Reportedly, the reasons for that are multiple and varied. The “toxic culture of the Internet” has been referenced, with one commentator on harassment stressing that online tools are clearly inadequate for mitigating misbehavior.
Another commentator notes the increased casualness of the work-from-home environment and linked screen interaction. He says that it can easily blur the line between professional and personal (read offensive or threatening) conduct.
A Project Include report finding revealed that legions of remote workers flatly lack confidence in their company management to deal effectively with workplace harassment.
When that is the case, they can turn to a proven employment law legal team for timely, aggressive and results-oriented help aimed at securing a meaningful remedy and maximum compensation.