Progressing toward gender equity in tech roles

Zalando has committed to increasing the share of women in tech job families to 40–60% by 2023. An ambitious target that, despite persistent effort by many teams, has not yet been achieved. Andrew Watts, SVP of Product Management, and Women in Tech commitment sponsor, tells us about the challenges, successes, and next steps on the journey toward gender equality in tech teams at Zalando and beyond.

Hi Andrew! What’s your role at Zalando?

I’m Senior Vice President of Product Management, and the sponsor for Zalando’s Women in Tech (WiT) commitment.

As a sponsor, it’s my responsibility to advocate and foster an inclusive environment and to support initiatives that promote and increase the overall Women In Tech share in Zalando. This directly contributes to the organization’s overall D&I commitment. This is a journey and over the last year we’ve been focusing on understanding the landscape at Zalando and on initiatives to increase the retention and development of WiT talent. This also means ensuring that we have a diverse slate of candidates for our open tech roles when we recruit externally.

Could you quickly recap what Zalando’s Women in Tech commitment entails?

In short, we set out to increase the diversity of our tech teams to ensure that they effectively represent our diverse European customer base of around 50 million people. Our ambitious goal is to increase the number of women in tech roles to 40–60%.

Why is this a priority for Zalando?

As a customer-focused company, we need our teams to reflect the real world so they can think inclusively from the start and make better decisions that benefit our diverse customers and workforce. Statistically, men still represent 67% of those employed in tech-related positions globally². Meaning the teams currently building algorithms used by millions worldwide are predominantly made up of men and exclude several other diversity dimensions, such as ethnic and cultural backgrounds. As a large tech employer in Europe, we can set an example with our commitments and efforts, and have a real chance of driving systemic change that positively impacts the entire tech industry.

And what motivates you personally to advocate for this commitment as a sponsor?

I want to be part of a company that reflects the diversity that exists in the world. As a tech leader, I’m not able to change what has happened in the past, but I’m able to influence where we go in the future. That’s why it is so important for me to focus on the Women in Tech commitment and to inspire other leaders at Zalando to do the same.

¹ This program was designed for everyone who identifies as a woman.

² Source: Deloitte 2022

Tell us about the progress that you and your team have made in 2023.

In 2023, we invested a lot of time diving deep to understand all the different efforts that have been going on across the company. There are many passionate people driving various initiatives, so we wanted to take stock of these and find out what their expected and real impact was. A big part of this has been to gather and analyze data to understand more about the challenges and opportunities we face. With that clear overview of where we stand and where we want to go, we’ve defined a new methodology going forward and have identified those initiatives that have had the most significant impact.

And what initiatives are those? What has proven most successful in getting more women into tech roles?

We’ve identified three main pillars that we’ll continue to focus on: Firstly, we're developing more opportunities for women to move into tech. For instance, in 2022, 20 women from different departments were reskilled into tech roles. Secondly, in 2023 we launched "GroWiT" (Growing Women in Tech) in partnership with StartSteps, a six-month training and internship program for women who are entry-level software engineers. Lastly, we're committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive work environment, supported by our Women in Tech Employee Resource Group who host regular workshops on learning new skills or preparing participants on how to navigate their career.

How close is Zalando to achieving the 40–60% target?

As of the end of 2023, we've reached a 25.9% share of women in tech roles, compared to 25.1% in 2022. In previous years, a key enabler of our progress on gender diversity was a significant increase in our headcount. It allowed us to double the share of women in tech roles over five years. While this is progress, it's not yet where we want to be. We're strongly committed to continuing our efforts until we meet our goal of reaching a 40–60% corridor of gender equity and we are currently re-assessing our target timeline.

What challenges have you been facing?

Due to a slowdown in external hiring because of economic factors and a greater focus on internal mobility for filling roles, we found ourselves in a different place this year for our Women in Tech commitment compared to previous years where there was a lot of external hiring.

Are there any other initiatives Zalando is implementing to achieve its Women in Tech commitment?

We continue to improve our hiring process, reviewing gender breakdowns at each phase of the pipeline to create more equitable opportunities. We identify women candidates applying for tech roles and add them to a dedicated candidate pool. Additionally, the talent acquisition team has reviewed job descriptions across the board, using inclusive language that aims to speak to everyone.

I hear that Zalando is also collaborating with external organizations. Can you elaborate on that?

For the second year, we’ve been partnering with Girls Talk Corporation, an award-winning social enterprise that aims to remove barriers to women in sectors where they’re traditionally underrepresented³. In 2023, we were proud to sponsor the Black Girls Tech Summit, giving 30 women the chance to take part in dedicated career sessions with 13 of our senior tech leaders.

Any learning that you want to share from all of your work on the topic?

This is an area that I’ve focused on for many, many years. It may seem obvious, but it’s critical to have a clear goal and to actively measure our progress against it. A big learning was understanding that the only way we’ll reach our goal regarding WiT is by taking many small steps with persistence and determination. Facing challenges and slower progress this year won’t make us stop pushing in the years to come.

What are your hopes and dreams for D&I at Zalando and beyond?

I’m very proud to work at a company that supports D&I and constantly measures its own progress in creating accountability around equality goals. I believe that we truly have an opportunity to make progress against these goals and to help the entire tech industry understand and apply our learnings. As with sustainability, this is a human challenge and not just a Zalando one.

³ Underrepresented refers to a person or group of people who are inadequately represented — in this case, within the fashion industry across Europe.