THG tackles tech's gender gap with new initiative
THG, the owner of Cult Beauty and Lookfantastic, has partnered with charity Tech She Can to help tackle the gender divide in the UK’s tech industry.
The two-year partnership will allow THG to participate in volunteer opportunities, teach children valuable skills, and continue to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace.
As part of this, employees will be invited to enrol in Tech She Can’s volunteering programme, which sees tech role models delivering online and in-person classroom visits across the UK to teach school-age children valuable technology and life skills.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of an industry skills shortage, with two million vacancies for tech roles across the UK economy in 2022, according to Tech Nation.
It will support three additional objectives in THG’s sustainability strategy, THG x Planet Earth, including:
- Introducing two days paid volunteer leave each year by 2025.
- Through volunteering, THG employees will contribute to the goal of providing 10,000 people in its communities with tech and life skills by 2030.
- Volunteer opportunities aim to engage employees across the group, aligning with THG’s goal of increasing employee engagement by at least 15%.
The group is also working to achieve 50% female representation in its graduate and apprenticeship schemes by 2025.
Jo Drake, Chief Information Officer at THG, said: "We are delighted to collaborate with Tech She Can. Our joint efforts will ignite inspiration and provide deeper insights into technology careers for upcoming generations.
"This partnership enables long term improvement in representation across the entire technology industry and we are excited to see where this partnership will take us."
