Twilio Wants More Diversity In Its Workforce By 2023

Behind the scenes at Twilio, the company is working towards building a diverse workforce and fostering an inclusive environment. By 2023, Twilio wants its workforce to be 50 percent female and 30 percent underrepresented populations.

The company, by this time, also aims to have 100 percent of their employees report feeling included and like they belong on the company’s employee engagement survey.

“It’s more about accommodations or having an environment where they feel included, feel like they belong and feel supported” said LaFawn Davis, Twilio’s Global Head of Culture & Inclusion to TechCrunch. “What we’ve been working on is more exposure, programs, more understanding of what their needs are before asking for demographics from that population.”

Twilio’s workforce is currently 31 percent women and 68 percent men. Underrepresented populations—Black, Latinx, two or more races, Pacific Islander, Native, Other and LGBTQ— make up 17 percent of employees. Only 1 percent of Twilio employees are black, and 3 percent are Latinx.

The cloud communication platform is dedicated to holding themselves accountable and measuring diversity in actions, not only words. Their goal is “to create a space for underrepresented communities by removing barriers to access, going where others don’t, and building bridges to make tech more representative.”

Some of the initiatives in place include their Hatch engineering apprenticeship program designed for candidates from non-traditional backgrounds in an effort to increase the Twilio’s hiring pipeline. By 2023, they plan to offer 100 apprenticeships.

According to their corporate website, the company has banned the term “culture fit” and offers workshops to help address microaggressions, triggers, and trauma.

“I believe the ideal Twilio is one that perfectly reflects the communities we serve,” Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson said in a statement to TechCrunch. “We need every person with the skills and desire necessary to help us fulfill our mission to want to join us and to be successful in working at Twilio.”