Happy belated birthday, America! Despite the shortened week we're coming in hot with another certified fresh edition of Last Week in Talent coming in hot and fresh to you inbox.
This week we're digging deep into the data behind VC funding inequality, how tech companies are getting kids across American into coding, the different ways women and men get treated when they keep their salary history secret, whether AI and gaming can deliver an effective solution to hiring diversity, how companies are developing the modern workforce, an in-depth interview with the woman trying to reinvent Uber's culture, and how the skills shortage is costing the British economy billions every year.
Oh yeah, and be sure to check out Slack's podcast episode about the world's first black chess grandmaster. It's a doozy. Good luck and happy hunting.
How Silicon Valley Pushed Coding into American Classrooms (NY Times): “In a few short years, Code.org has raised more than $60 million from Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Salesforce, along with individual tech executives and foundations. It has helped to persuade two dozen states to change their education policies and laws, Mr. Partovi said, while creating free introductory coding lessons, called Hour of Code, which more than 100 million students worldwide have tried.”
Women Get Lower Salary Offers When They Won’t Say What They Are Making (Bloomberg): “In PayScale's study, nearly half of the more than 15,000 full-time workers surveyed said that, in the process of being hired, they had been asked. But women who refused to disclose ultimately got final salary offers that were 1.8 percent lower than the ones given to women who did disclose. Men who refused to give a number, however, ended up making more than those who chose not to divulge.”
Can AI and Gaming Improve Hiring Diversity? (Mic): “One proposed solution to these problems is, oddly enough, gaming. This idea isn't exactly new, though to date most recruiting games have focused on marketing a certain company or a certain role — rather than replacing the good old-fashioned resume and job interview model. Now, tech companies like Pymetrics and Knack want to change that, by building games informed by behavioral science and neuroscience that uncover traits important to employers — like altruism or the ability to weigh risks and rewards — while avoiding human biases that favor more homogenous hires. Their pitch is enticing at the very least: "Play games, get hired," Pymetrics' website reads.”
Indeed Gives Nod to Craigslist as it Solidifies its Defenses Against Google for Jobs (ERE): “In short, it looks like Indeed is taking a page out of Craigslist’s strategy by cutting off Google from its content and making it only available on its platform. Cutting off Google is also a strategy that has worked well for the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn. Only time will tell if it helps secure Indeed’s status as the most-trafficked job search site in the world.”
Why Female Entrepreneurs Often Get Less Funding Than Their Male Peers (HBR): “Research my colleagues and I conducted offers new evidence as to why female entrepreneurs continue to receive less funding than their male counterparts. We observed Q&A interactions between 140 prominent venture capitalists (40% of them female) and 189 entrepreneurs (12% female) that took place at TechCrunch Disrupt New York, an annual startup funding competition. Our study then tracked all funding rounds for the startups that launched at the competition. These startups were comparable in terms of quality and capital needs, yet their total amounts of funding raised over time differed significantly: Male-led startups in our sample raised five times more funding than female-led ones.”
How Modern Companies Are Helping Develop the Gen Z Workforce (FastCompany): “Service Year Alliance (SYA), the national organization that aims to give young Americans a shot at advancing their careers by doing a year of paid, full-time service, is offering a new way for 100 young people working in participating organizations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco to take their professional development to the next level.”
The Muse Bought Brand Amper (Techcrunch): “The Muse just acquired the company to produce both internal and external insights from companies. Hiring customers of The Muse will, for example, be able to use some of Brand Amper’s tools (rebranded as BrandBuilder, for now) to generate insights that they might want to use for their own marketing activities. (You can imagine what some of these might look like: “Our employees love our commitment to progress on climate change!”)
Meet the Woman Tasked With Saving Uber From Itself (FastCompany): “Since February, Uber has taken some actions to turn itself around. The question it’s facing now is whether it can pull off a makeover. We sat down with Liane Hornsey, who is both Uber’s chief human resources officer and the liaison between Uber and the board committee overseeing Uber’s implementation of Covington & Burling’s recommendations, to see how the company is moving ahead.”
Skills Shortage Costs British Businesses 2 Billion a Year (Guardian): “Its survey of 400 firms found 90% had faced difficulties recruiting workers with the required skills in the last 12 months. The findings will add to concerns that employers are already struggling to fill key jobs even before a potential clampdown on immigration once Britain leaves the EU.”
Podcast of the Week: How the first black chess grandmaster built a lifelong career out of a young person's game
