The presence of Black individuals in tech jobs has elevated between 2005 and 2025, however they continue to be considerably underrepresented within the trade. This stagnation in growing the variety of Black professionals in tech is blamed on a number of elements, together with a scarcity of entry to laptop science schooling and retention issues inside firms.
And in line with Black techies, the political insurance policies and local weather of 2025 have solely made issues worse.
Affect of 2025 politics
Idaho Edokpayi, who works in Denver as a Resolution Architect, confirmed a stage of warning in his response that spoke volumes in regards to the present political local weather.
“I’ve to watch out what I say simply due to the local weather, the surroundings, no matter,” stated Edokpayi. “But it surely’s not been nice. I imply, if I had been talking for myself, I’d communicate in another way.”
George Gourdine, a senior gross sales chief in cloud expertise based mostly within the DC space, was a bit extra forthcoming.
“The political local weather, I haven’t seen a disruption fairly like this,” stated Gourdine. “Individuals say it’s AI, however I believe it’s AI and the political surroundings that we’re in. It’s as disruptive because it was in 2008, though we’re not at present dealing with an enormous recession, so they are saying. But it surely seems like that.
“I haven’t seen a job market fairly this dangerous the place there are extra individuals than there are jobs.”
Black individuals in tech seeking to rent new expertise co-sign Gourdine’s evaluation.
Take Tim Hamner, a Los Angeles-based IT director for a advertising agency, for example. Hamner says the present political local weather makes it tougher to seek out higher expertise, not as a result of the expertise shouldn’t be obtainable, however due to the sheer variety of individuals searching for work.
“As we’re seeing with the roles report, [tech] isn’t the one trade that this occurs to. It’s simply occurring worldwide,” stated Hamner. “Amazon simply laid off 30,000 individuals. That’s 30,000 certified people who find themselves going to be on the market, I don’t need to say mucking up a number of the job searches, however competitors is getting better.”
Hamner says this new actuality causes him to pay further consideration to who he’s attempting to rent and convey on to his staff.
Equally, Glennda Bivens, an Iowa-born, California Bay Space-raised Houston transplant, views the affect of 2025 political insurance policies from her place as an entrepreneur.
Bivens owns Engagement Angel LLC, a agency that gives enterprise methods for creatives. So, she is searching for employment within the type of extra contracts for her enterprise whereas concurrently looking for to rent new expertise.
“As somebody who has actively been on the job market, it has been actually onerous discovering alternatives that align with my talent units,” stated Bivens. “A lot of locations have needed to withdraw numerous positions as a consequence of funding constraints, significantly linked to insurance policies, and simply sort of the best way issues are proper now, the dearth of stability.”
Bivens spoke of the affect of 2025 political realities on buddies of hers, a few of whom are in tech, and a few who are usually not.
“I even have actually shut buddies who work inside the federal authorities who’re at present not being paid,” shared Bivens. “We’re actually leaning on each other to make it possible for we’ve our fundamental wants met, whether or not or not it’s paying our mortgages, our payments, ensuring everyone seems to be consuming, however then additionally tapping into the emotional and non secular welfare and wellness of each other.
“I believe there’s a extra silent a part of this expertise politically that it could actually chip away on the soul and the distinctiveness of people.”
Bivens asserts that proper now, particularly, Black techies and others should maintain quick to the points of “our heritage, our lineage, our group,” and so on., which have traditionally saved us linked.
“Proper now, it appears as if there’s a much bigger divide and a fracture, not from us, however being imposed upon us,” added Bivens. “So being actually inventive and enthusiastic about how we will proceed to construct each other up and keep linked is necessary, as a result of we’re not each other’s enemy.”
By the numbers
Regardless of being 11.6% of the entire U.S. workforce, Black employees had been solely 7.4% of the high-tech workforce in 2022, exhibiting they’re underrepresented. The variety of Black individuals in high-tech roles elevated between 2005 and 2022, however their share of the general high-tech workforce remained stagnant at round 7.4% in line with the U.S. Equal Employment Alternative Fee (EEOC).
Moreover, Black employees are considerably underrepresented in high-tech administration positions, comprising solely 5.7% of high-tech managers in 2022.
Our relationship with tech
These dismal employment numbers fly within the face of Black individuals’s relationship with and use of expertise.
Members of Gen Z are essentially the most technologically proficient of some other technology earlier than them, in line with a June 2025 report by Limely. Gen Zers are the youngest members of the present workforce. They had been born between 1997 and 2012, making them between 13 and 28 years previous.
Surprisingly, Millennials, the biggest sector of at present’s U.S. workforce (36-42%, per the U.S. Division of Labor), have a extra constructive view of how expertise is affecting their lives than some other technology. Nielsen reviews that greater than 74% of Millennials imagine that new expertise makes their lives simpler, and 54% imagine that it helps them keep nearer to their family and friends.
Whereas there isn’t a single racial group that makes use of and purchases essentially the most expertise merchandise general, Black and Hispanic customers usually tend to depend on smartphones for web entry and e-commerce. Black Enterprise reviews that Black individuals within the U.S. are significantly lively, exhibiting excessive ranges of smartphone possession, social media utilization, and gaming, and are sometimes thought of early adopters who affect expertise traits.
Need to work in tech fields
The need to extend Black individuals’s involvement in tech as workforce members and tech entrepreneurs is rising exponentially by the day.
AfroTech 2025, the current five-day convention held in Houston, was anticipated to draw over 40,000 attendees from world wide. Included in that quantity had been over 200 tech firms stated to be actively looking for expertise, C-Suite tech firm members, Black management in nationwide safety, and Black school college students seeking to jumpstart their desired careers in tech.
Transferring ahead
The Denver-based resolution architect, Edokpayi, believes that to realize success shifting ahead, wherever Black techies are on their skilled journey, they should “play offense.”
“For those who’re of the angle, ‘I’ve one thing and I don’t need them to take that from me,’ that makes it onerous,” stated Edokpayi. “It’s important to be on the market searching for new alternatives, attempting to get forward.
“And truthfully, I’m out right here attempting to create issues for me and different individuals like me.”
