Study Shows Tech Workers are Still Willing to Work For Big Companies Despite Scandals

Lack of diversity, discrimination, and pay gaps have been ongoing topics in the tech industry, and major spotlights have been put on big companies like Facebook and Google.

Despite data and privacy scandals, being called out for its dismal diversity by a former manager, Facebook’s time in the news has not stopped people from wanting to work with there.

According to a report by Indeed, 59 percent of tech workers aren’t discouraged by the scandals in the tech industry and are still willing to work for companies embroiled in scandals, Forbes reported.

In fact, 34 percent of Indeed’s 1000 respondents said that scandals make the industry more interesting. This can possibly be attributed to workers who want to solve big tech issues from the inside. It could also mean that the time, money and training it takes to enter the field are more important to some workers than staying away from a company experiencing controversy.

According to the study, men don’t mind working for scandal ridden companies, because they believe they can solve issues from the inside. But 33 percent of people surveyed were less interested in working for companies mired in controversy.

So, tech workers aren’t turning a blind eye to scandals within Facebook, Amazon, and Google — they are just choosing their battles. For respondents who worked at companies that have been impacted by scandals, 74 percent of people said that they did not consider leaving their jobs because of the negative press.

On the plus side, recent tech scandals have made workers more open to reporting misconduct in the workplace. According to the report, nearly 50 percent of workers are more willing to report issues and 79 percent are willing to stay at their jobs if their companies are more transparent about mistakes.

Indeed’s report comes as The House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Consumer Protection Subcommittee holds a hearing on the tech industry’s diversity and inclusion problem. It is unclear if the report looked at responses from underrepresented groups. AfroTech has reached out to Indeed for the full report.