Skyscanner
HOW SKYSCANNER COMPETES FOR TECH TALENT IN SCOTLAND AND SPAIN
KEY SUCCESS OUTCOMES
- Positioned Scotland as an attractive tech hub and as a result, amassed a strong talent pool with over 80% of class students situated in Scotland.
- Hired multiple candidates from the CFGdegree in full-stack into their Scotland-based headquarters.
- Educated women in web development from a range of diverse backgrounds and tech levels, with 47% being career switchers and 62% at beginner tech level.
- Multiplied their program by 4x, expanding classes into Spain to provide learning and mentorship opportunities to women around their Barcelona office.
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WHY SKYSCANNER PARTNERED WITH CODE FIRST GIRLS
Following the global pandemic in 2020, Skyscanner sought to increase diversity in its technical teams to improve business resilience in challenging market conditions. The Edinburgh-based startup launched in 2003 and has since grown to fill seven offices around the world. In their effort to tap into local talent and promote gender diversity around their office locations, Skyscanner partnered with Code First Girls to unlock local talent pools of women in Scotland and Spain to join their technical teams at their HQs.
WHAT WERE SKYSCANNER'S KEY TALENT CHALLENGES?
We spoke with Skyscanner to find out what talent challenges they were experiencing. The key challenges were:
- Competing against London to attract computer science graduates from top Scottish universities to ensure business resilience.
- A huge tech talent skills shortage across Scotland – demand has increased significantly, and the local areas do not have enough people with these skills.
- Struggling to find women in local areas surrounding their international office locations who were interested in pursuing a career in technology.
- Achieving diversity targets of 40% women in leadership and 25% women in tech by 2025 by bringing more women into tech at all levels.
HOW CODE FIRST GIRLS HELPED SKYSCANNER BUILD THEIR TECH TALENT PIPELINE:
UNLOCKING NEW TECH TALENT POOLS IN A GROWING MARKET
In Scotland, the demand for IT professionals has grown significantly, surpassing the national trend. Between 2017 and 2023, there was an 89% increase in demand in Scotland, compared to the UK’s 45% increase. A key reason for the rise in demand is due to the Scottish tech industry’s escalating shortage of skills, with labour scarcity emerging as a primary factor impacting tech companies’ turnover in Scotland during 2022.
How did we help?
Skyscanner recognised the potential of Code First Girls’ community of career switchers and decided to sponsor them as a means to combat the tech skills shortage in Scotland. Since career switchers already possess valuable knowledge and leadership experience from their previous roles, this initiative also aligned with their diversity targets of bringing more women into tech at all levels by 2025, including 40% women in leadership.
BUILDING A TECH TALENT HUB ATTRACTIVE TO WOMEN IN SCOTLAND
Meeting demand for tech talent in Scotland is an ongoing issue as small Scottish firms and start-ups are often competing with large London-based firms. With Scottish universities being a rich resource for tech-trained graduates, tech companies in Scotland often struggle to attract skilled talent.
How did we help?
By sponsoring our Coding Kickstarter classes in Web Development, Skyscanner had the opportunity to cultivate a dedicated tech talent pool based in Scotland that would strongly identify with their employer brand. Skyscanner can now channel women from their talent pool into additional opportunities, which they did with the CFGdegree programme and mentorship opportunities, positioning Scotland as an attractive tech hub capable of rivalling tech opportunities.
INVESTING EARLY IN TECH TALENT FOR FUTURE TECH HUBS
Barcelona is emerging as an important tech hub with the growth of its thriving start-up scene. Most notably, multinational tech companies Microsoft and Google have opened their first offices in Barcelona in the past three years. The area now has more than 2,150 tech companies, 210 technology parks, centres, and research facilities, and nine international facilities.
How did we help?
Following the success of the pilot in Scotland, Skyscanner multiplied their programme by four times, expanding classes into Spain which was a completely new market for Code First Girls to enter. As Spain emerges as a promising tech hub on the horizon, Skyscanner decided to invest early in providing opportunities to women around their Barcelona office with the goal of creating a talent pool of dynamic people to help drive a transformation in online travel search.
WHAT SUCCESS HAS SKYSCANNER SEEN SINCE PARTNERING WITH CODE FIRST GIRLS?
We spoke with Myra Fulton, VP of Engineering, and Mairi Fernandez-Ares, Talent Director, to hear how sponsoring women through our classes helped Skyscanner build tech talent pools in Scotland and Spain.
1. HIRING WOMEN INTO THEIR SCOTLAND HEADQUARTERS
“In 2022, we’ve been delighted to welcome eleven female career switchers to Skyscanner’s Edinburgh and Glasgow engineering hubs, seven of whom are Code First Girls graduates.” – Myra Fulton, VP of Engineering at Skyscanner
Skyscanner’s sponsorship of Coding Kickstarter classes created a tech talent pool, with 80% of class students situated in Scotland specifically. These individuals completed their training online while residing in various locations across Scotland, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, and Falkirk. Leveraging this talent pool, Skyscanner hired multiple CFGdegree graduates into their Scotland-based headquarters. This endeavour resulted in the establishment of a resilient engineering recruitment pipeline, which Skyscanner will continue to expand in 2023.
2. OVER 100 INTERNATIONAL CFGDEGREE APPLICATIONS
“My mentor has given me invaluable advice when I’ve been at a crossroads and has even advised me on future aspirations, such as when to make the jump to my next tech role. She has been proactive, scheduling in meetings weekly and has also offered to check the technical content of any projects I do for my personal portfolio. She has been very encouraging, reassuring and inspiring!” – CFGdegree student and mentee sponsored by Skyscanner
Skyscanner’s sponsorship of classes in Spain, a new territory for Code First Girls, was a huge success as the talent pool served as a funnel for Skyscanner’s sponsored CFGdegree and mentorship opportunities which received over 100 international applications. The students came from the talent pool built by the classes and received further education and mentorship from Skyscanner employees to help build loyalty towards the Skyscanner employer brand.
3. A 4% INCREASE YEAR ON YEAR OF WOMEN IN TECH ROLES
“We’ve seen the numbers of women at Director level rise to 38% and our numbers of women in tech roles more generally rise to 24%. The latter number reflects a 4% increase year on year, of which our partnership with Code First Girls and our programme of opening up roles to career switchers have played a key part.” – Mairi Fernandez-Ares, Talent Director at Skyscanner
As part of their goal to bring more women into tech at all levels by 2025, 47% of women sponsored by Skyscanner were career switchers, 89% didn’t study STEM at degree level and 62% were of a beginner tech level. Through our partnership, Skyscanner has been able to educate women in coding for the first time in their lives and build a talent pool of diverse experiences which they could utilise to achieve their diversity targets. Their success can be seen in the increased representation of women at various levels within the organization.
WHY CHOOSE CODE FIRST GIRLS?
Companies around the world trust Code First Girls to:
- Build specialised talent pools in global office locations.
- Attract tech talent by leveraging Code First Girls’ expertise to establish a presence in international locations.
- Enhance your competitive advantage by fostering diverse tech teams that innovate 1.7x more.
- Teach a comprehensive curriculum designed to empower women globally with highly sought-after technical skills, including Python, JavaScript, and Web Development.
Why not find out for yourself? Speak to our experts here.👇
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