Michael Dell: Dell’s Global Workforce Will Be 50% Women By 2030

‘Certainly there are more women in IT now than ever, but there is still not enough. Michael Dell’s commitment to hiring more women is yet another example of his leadership in our industry,’ says Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group.

Dell Technologies plans to significantly change the diversity of its 157,000 employees over the next decade by making women account for 50 percent of its global workforce, up from 30 percent today.

“The IT world has historically been a male-dominated industry despite efforts over the past 10-plus years to promote STEM-(Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) focused careers for girls,” said Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group, a St. Paul, Minn.-based innovative Dell partner. “Certainly there are more women in IT now than ever, but there’s still not enough. Michael Dell’s commitment to hiring more women is yet another example of his leadership in our industry.”

As part of Dell Technologies ‘Progress Made Real’ vision for 2030, the $91 billion infrastructure giant said it will hire, develop and retain women so they account for 50 percent of the company’s global workforce as well as 40 percent of the employees worldwide who manage people.

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“Our 2030 plan is full of audacious goals grounded in action,” said Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, on stage during his keynote this week at Dell Technologies Summit. “While we don’t know exactly how to do all these things today, that’s precisely the point -- it stretches us to create new things just like our 2020 goals did almost a decade ago. We’ll tap the brightest minds we can find to help us get there. That’s exactly why we’ve committed that women will comprise 50 percent of our global workforce by 2030.”

Dell’s announcement on stage was met with loud cheers during the summit. “Thank you,” Dell responded. “That’s a global goal for us.”

As of February, women comprised 30.4 percent of Dell’s global workforce and around 23 percent of employees who manage people.

Davenport’s St. Charles said gender diversity in the workplace creates positive results for organizations.

“When women and men comprise your workforce in real world ratios, then your company is a better reflection of your customers -- plus you have the benefit of different perspectives to drive innovation and address challenges,” said St. Charles, who’s been leading Davenport Group, ranked No. 392 on CRN’s 2019 SP500 list, since 2002. “There are numerous benefits for organizations that focus on gender diversity, including greater profitability.”

She said this is yet another example of Michael Dell “choosing to do the right thing” for his Round Rock, Texas-based company which she believes will have a “tremendously positive impact” on the IT industry.

“As a byproduct, Dell will be a stronger, more resilient company that will ultimately profit from his forward thinking,” St. Charles said. “This example of Michael’s leadership is just one more reason why Davenport Group – a woman-owned business – is proud to be an exclusive Dell partner.”

In addition to making women a larger portion of its global workforce, Dell’s 2030 ‘Progress Made Real’ vision includes making 25 percent of Dell’s U.S. workers African-American or Hispanic, an increase from 13 percent in 2019.

Separately, Dell said it plans to use 100 percent recycled or renewable material in all packaging by 2030, as well as recycling an equivalent product for every product a customer purchase. “That means that by 2030, for every product that a customer buys, we will reuse or recycle an equivalent product,” said Dell.