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How TUI Built a Technology Recruitment Strategy Across Europe
TUI, one of the world’s leading tourism platform companies, partnered with Code First Girls to build diverse tech talent pipelines around their “Digital Hubs” in both Poland and Portugal. TUI’s Digital Hub network is a set of global locations offering tech talent an opportunity to work on the future of tourism.Â
80%
Of class students situated in Scotland
47%
Of candidates were career switcher
4x
Program expansion
The Problem
Challenges in Building a Diverse and Inclusive Tech Talent Pipeline
TUI faced several key talent challenges as they sought to enhance their workforce for their Digital Hubs in Poland and Portugal. They wanted to develop robust, gender-balanced tech pipelines to ensure diversity and inclusion in their growing teams. Additionally, they needed to create a wide talent pool of women interested in pursuing new tech roles, particularly as their office locations expanded. TUI also aimed to expand their graduate program by creating a dedicated pipeline for career switchers, focusing on individuals with transferable skills and diverse perspectives to enrich their tech teams.
The Solution
1. Balancing The Tech Gender Gap in Poland
In 2022, Warsaw’s tech talent pool expanded rapidly with 603 new software engineering profiles on LinkedIn, 5,804 engineers changing jobs, and 1,281 open tech roles. The growth experienced by the tech industry in Poland’s capital is signalling a competitive talent market for companies to attract new tech hires. Despite this, Poland has a serious tech gender imbalance, with 84% male and 16% female in the tech workforce. By sponsoring our Coding Kickstarter classes in Python, TUI could upskill women with no previous tech experience and build a wide talent pool of diverse candidates to address the tech gender imbalance in Poland
2. Building Digital Tech Talent Hubs in New Locations
This year TUI Group opened a new “Digital Hub” in Portugal to enhance its tech capabilities and transition into a global digital travel and leisure platform. The hub will host 150 tech experts focused on improving the mobile app, payment systems, and implementing AI technologies across their platforms. The Coding Kickstarter classes in Portugal were planned to build pipelines for TUI’s 2023 CFGdegree applications, with the graduates to join TUI in full-time roles. The web development classes were used to build brand awareness amongst the Code First Girls community and attract the best candidates to job opportunities at TUI. The classes were oversubscribed by 142% showing the expansive reach of the Code First Girls women in the technology network.Â
3. Future-Proofing The Travel Industry with Career Switchers
With a graduate program already in place, TUI came to Code First Girls with a need to attract talent with more diverse experiences. By focusing on developing a career switcher talent pipeline, TUI opened a gateway to tap into the rich pool of diverse talents required for their success. With the average age being 30, our career switchers’ diverse perspectives and varied experiences enhance employers’ problem-solving capabilities and foster the development of creative and innovative solutions.
The Result
We spoke with Emily Collier, Director of Technology at TUI, to hear how sponsoring women through our classes helped TUI solve their talent challenges in Europe.Â
1. 142% oversubscribe rate in a new market
Our international classes, sponsored by TUI, were in high demand. With a 142% oversubscribe rate, this showcases the success of our employer branding efforts, such as our #REPRESENT interview with TUI. It also proves how engaged the Code First Girls community is in global locations outside of the UK.
2. Diverse Talent Pipeline for a Diverse Customer Base
The class comprised of students with diverse backgrounds and prior experiences, with 61% being from underrepresented communities and 29% being first-generation university graduates. This background is similar for the CFGdegree applicants, which had 63% from underrepresented communities and 26% being first-generation university graduates. The similar applicant stats shows the successful establishment of the classes pipeline for the CFGdegree program.Â
3. Introducing women age 30 and over to tech
The applicant pool for our classes sponsored by TUI reflects a diverse range of education levels and age groups, highlighting the broad appeal of TUI as an employer brand and career opportunity. Candidates ranged from recent graduates to individuals in their mid-50s, with an average age of 30. Recent university students graduated in Urban Design, International Trade and Dietetics, to name a few. Meanwhile, career switchers came from backgrounds in accounting, education and marketing.
Why choose Code First Girls
Companies around the world trust Code First Girls to:
- Solve the tech gender imbalance in your business by sponsoring and hiring women in tech.
- Build diverse pipelines strategically aligned with company office locations.
- Gain access to the most diverse community of women in tech in the world.
- Secure a guaranteed tech talent pipeline – Code First Girls are oversubscribed with applications vs job roles.Â
Why not find out for yourself? Speak to our experts here. 👇