Breaking the bias around women in technology on International Women’s Day

Break the Bias. That’s the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8, and it’s also what we strive for each and every day at FX Innovation.

The goal is to raise awareness and support for building a diverse, inclusive world free of stereotypes, where each person’s unique contributions and experiences are recognized.

Inclusion and respect for one another are at the very heart of our core values. To celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re excited to be kicking off a series featuring some of the amazing women on our team and telling the stories of their experiences, the challenges they’ve overcome, and their journeys to successful and fulfilling careers in technology.

The value of diversity, new ideas and fresh thinking

The tech sector has traditionally had a reputation as a male-dominated industry. Although that is changing, women still make up just 30 per cent of the technology workforce in Canada, according to a 2020 report from HR software firm Humi.

That’s not how we operate here at FX Innovation. We have created an environment that actively discourages discrimination and celebrates the range of skills and talents that everyone brings to the job. Today, women make up 52 per cent of our leadership committee and senior management, and that number is on the rise.

This has happened organically as a result of our values of diversity and inclusion. CEO and Co-Founder Guillaume Bazinet says, “We have never hired based on quotas, nor have we deliberately sought out female candidates for certain roles. Instead, we simply focus on hiring the right person for the job.”

Our goal is to continue to enrich our company through diversity of thought, background, age, and gender. Diversity in all its forms makes us better able to think strategically and deliver innovative solutions for our customers.

Values that ‘break the bias’ and create a great place for women to work

It’s important to look at where women have made strides in tech – and where there is room to grow. Today at FX we have more women in project management positions than ever before, and an increasing number in management and leadership. While women still tend to be under-represented in highly technical roles, that is changing at FX thanks to our corporate values.

We ensure that fairness is paramount in our workplace to make FX a great place to work for everyone – a place where everyone’s voice can be heard.

“Since the earliest days of FX our founders have instilled values of inclusion and respect for the individual into every facet of the company. Our entire leadership team carries these values of inclusion, resulting in an extremely healthy environment,” says Melanie McClure, Chief Human Resources Officer. “In fact, our most recent employee satisfaction survey showed a rating of 10/10 when it comes to inclusion, and it’s something we’re extremely proud of and we will continue to foster in the future.”

Educational opportunities for women interested in technology careers 

The IT job market is one of the most difficult and complex, especially because of the constant evolution of technology, the speed of change and the shortage of manpower that has been felt for years. In this context, FX has launched an initiative called CloudCampus with the aim of supporting skills development, requalification and skills improvement. This cloud expert training program is an ecosystem of partners that co-develops cloud programs to train Canadian technology talent.

CloudCampus is not specifically geared towards women; however, with the rapid growth of cloud computing and the need for Canadian businesses to have experts who understand digital transformation, this intiative is a great opportunity for women to develop or enhance their technical skills, or even move from one technological discipline to another. CloudCampus offers women the opportunity to gain the right skills to launch or advance their careers in technology.