The tech industry at large is making a noble effort to bring awareness to diversity and promote equality within their workforces. Salesforce was one of the first to do it, making a strong commitment to delivering equal opportunity and inclusion with a stated goal to “build a workforce that looks like society.” Other tech giants including Google, LinkedIn, and Microsoft have initiated annual reporting to measure the demographic evolution of their global workforces. These annual reports are an essential part of helping companies understand how they stack up in their progress toward leveling the playing field for every worker, everywhere.
“In partnership with Salesforce, we’re proud to introduce the 2021 Trailblazer Diversity Report.”
While these tech giants have led the charge in measuring and reporting on diversity within their own internal workforces, their influence for equity expands beyond their virtual four walls to the external ecosystems they enable. In many ways, driving toward a more diverse ecosystem accomplishes more than these companies could ever directly control through the hiring practices of their own HR departments. Yet none of these companies have tackled the challenge of measuring and reporting on the impacts they and their partners are having on their respective ecosystems. For Salesforce specifically, the question isn’t if its talent ecosystem of Trailblazers has a bright future ahead—IDC’s 2021 research claims that the Salesforce economy will create 9.3 million jobs by 2026. The more important questions are, “Who exactly is the Trailblazer community?” and “Is the Trailblazer community becoming more diverse?”
To architect DEI initiatives that will create real impact, we have to first put a lens to where the Salesforce talent ecosystem’s demographics stand today.
In 2018, 10K set out to answer those questions with our first Salesforce Talent Ecosystem Report. As a Salesforce partner, we’re advocates for the talent ecosystem. We want to understand who our experts are and what they need so we can better support them. Promoting diversity is also the spirit of my work as a board member for PepUpTech, a nonprofit focused on creating opportunities for underrepresented persons in tech. Our work is important, but I often wonder what kind of impact we and other nonprofits with similar missions are having on the progress of our ecosystem. Salesforce, thankfully, is also invested in gaining an intimate understanding of our ecosystem’s talent. With their partnership, this report is our inaugural Trailblazer Diversity Report. Measuring diversity requires special intention and careful methodology, so while this year focuses solely on North America, we anticipate a global report in the future.
This year’s report introduces a general workforce overview across common roles and includes demographics such as age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability status, military status, education level, location by state, employment status, number of years in the ecosystem, industry, job department, and company size. The report also presents each role’s specific makeup of gender and ethnicity. Our goal is not to provide commentary on the survey’s results, but rather to better inform you, the reader, about the makeup of our shared ecosystem for you to digest and form your own opinions.
Our goal is not to provide commentary on the survey’s results, but rather to better inform you, the reader, about the makeup of our shared ecosystem for you to digest and form your own opinions.
To architect DEI initiatives that will create real impact, we have to first put a lens to where the Salesforce talent ecosystem’s demographics stand today. We plan to repeat this research and report findings on an annual basis to help stakeholders understand how and where we are making progress and where extra attention may be needed. It’s only with that intimate understanding that we can know where investment is needed to move the needle, provide equitable opportunities, and deepen our connection with every member of the Trailblazer community—every voice, everywhere.
More Salesforce talent ecosystem resources from 10K
The Organizations Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in the Salesforce Talent Ecosystem
