AAT becomes first professional accountancy body to sign Tech Talent Charter

Just 17% of tech/ICT workers in the UK are female, only 10% of females are taking A-Level computer studies, and yet the UK needs one million more tech workers by 2020 alone.

To address the skills gap, the Tech Talent Charter was launched and subsequently supported by government. This month, the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) became the first professional accountancy body to sign it.

The charter requires signatories to have attraction, recruitment and retention practices that are designed to increase the diversity of their workforce and to measure and share the diversity profile of their UK employees for collective publication.

AAT has a strong history of supporting women, having published its Gender Pay Gap data as part of its annual report long before it was legally required to do so; it was also the first and for a long time the only accountancy body to have signed the Women in Finance Charter and has regularly engaged with policymakers on issues relating to gender equality. 

Olivia Hill, AAT Chief HR Officer, said: "Britain needs a more diverse, inclusive, fairer and commercially successful tech workforce and AAT is pleased to play a part in helping to achieve this. We’d like to see other professional bodies sign up and for accountants of all shapes and sizes to give this some consideration too. Together we can make a real difference."

Tech Talent Charter Chief Executive Debbie Forster said: "It’s vital for the industry to come together as a whole to do more to show females that a career in technology is incredibly rewarding, to increase the number of females working within the industry, to attract people who are considering a career change, and to encourage younger generations to consider these careers from the word go.

"We welcome AAT as signatories but would like many more to pledge their support for the Tech Talent Charter and to join us on our exciting journey."

Margot James MP, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport added: "A digital gender divide is unacceptable, which is why we’re working with industry to ensure that everyone has access to the exciting employment opportunities within our tech sector. To make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business we need the right workforce, and it’s great to see more organisations like AAT sign up to the Tech Talent Charter and improve diversity."

Any organisation, large or small, can sign up, completely free of charge. Find out more on the Tech Talent Charter website.