Anti-Affirmative Action Decision's Impact on the Tech Industry Recruiting Practices

When many firms are facing increased budget scrutiny and financial performance pressure, technology solutions that increase the scope and efficiency of recruiting as well as the accuracy and fairness of hiring are a key resource successfully used by many industries, but still virtually untapped in the legal industry.

In addition to moral arguments, a lack of diversity in schools and workplaces harms business and economic performance. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Charlotte A. Burrows issued a statement making explicit the impact this ruling has on businesses and our economy. “[This] decision…will undoubtedly hamper the efforts…to ensure diverse student bodies. That’s a problem for our economy because businesses often rely on colleges and universities to provide a diverse pipeline of talent for recruitment and hiring. Diversity helps companies attract top talent, sparks innovation, improves employee satisfaction, and enables companies to better serve their customers.”

What may seem more acutely an admissions challenge for schools is clearly a looming problem for the broader legal industry. This ruling will affect the demographics of future classes of lawyers. Fewer law students of color on campuses means fewer potential summer associates and candidates of color for law firms. Law School Admission Council President Kellye Testy expressed a call to action for “all of us in legal education, at bar associations, and in practice…to redouble efforts to make sure the entire pre-law to practice pipeline is better.”

How Technology Can Help

Candidates of color are already underrepresented in schools today, and the removal of race-conscious admissions will further exacerbate the situation. Tech firms will need to consider candidates from a substantially larger number of schools than they do today. Increasing the volume of candidates to consider and schools to recruit from is a tall order on already resource-strapped recruiting staff.

Tech firms can leverage our tools to help broaden their funnels to include and consider more candidates. Virtual interviewing platforms enable firms to evaluate candidates without the constraints of travel budgets or time out of the office for candidates. Other providers can enable access to networks of candidates, which extend the access of any one firm well beyond their own efforts. Technologies like these can significantly boost top-of-funnel representation and provide greater diversity throughout the process. Based on our client data, on average, clients that leverage innovative solutions, like the BIT Job Board, to extend their efforts see an approximate 300% increase in candidates from underrepresented groups in their pipelines.

Expanding access to talent is only one part of the challenge. How firms evaluate candidates (e.g., school rank, GPA, and interviews) once they’re in the pipeline comes with its own challenges. In a recent analysis of law firms, we found that school rank, GPA, and other resume data taken all together have less than a 10% correlation to an attorney’s actual on-the-job performance. It’s a sobering statistic that underlines the need for firms to reach beyond these traditional factors to improve hiring decisions and firm diversity.

Technology Is the Game Changer You Need

Tech firm recruiting methods are under greater scrutiny given the changing landscape caused by the Supreme Court affirmative action decision. This creates both urgency and opportunity to build better hiring practices that withstand legal scrutiny and deliver stronger, more diverse talent.

Firms that implement a more data-driven hiring process have already made headway in expanding access to talent. Use of technology and artificial intelligence can result in improvements in law firm retention rates despite the high attrition rates experienced over the past couple years. In the face of macroeconomic and political uncertainty, the legal industry has an opportunity to set the example for changes in recruiting, hiring, retention, and professional development. By considering alternative solutions that broaden networks for sourcing talent and new models for developing talent, law firms can lessen the negative impact of the recent affirmative action ruling and build stronger, more diverse, inclusive, and competitive firms of the future.