This submit was initially printed on Defender Community
By Aswad Walker
The presence of Black folks in tech jobs has elevated between 2005 and 2025, however they continue to be considerably underrepresented within the business. This stagnation in rising the variety of Black professionals in tech is blamed on a number of components, together with a scarcity of entry to pc science training and retention issues inside corporations.
And in response to Black techies, the political insurance policies and local weather of 2025 have solely made issues worse.
Influence of 2025 Politics
Idaho Edokpayi, who works in Denver as a Answer Architect, confirmed a stage of warning in his response that spoke volumes concerning the present political local weather.
“I’ve to watch out what I say simply due to the local weather, the setting, no matter,” stated Edokpayi. “But it surely’s not been nice. I imply, if I have 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 feel it’s AI and the political setting that we’re in. It’s as disruptive because it was in 2008, though we’re not presently dealing with an enormous recession, so they are saying. But it surely seems like that.
“I haven’t seen a job market fairly this unhealthy the place there are extra folks than there are jobs.”
Black folks 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, as an illustration. Hamner says the present political local weather makes it more durable to search out higher expertise, not as a result of the expertise will not be out there, however due to the sheer variety of folks searching for work.
“As we’re seeing with the roles report, [tech] isn’t the one business that this occurs to. It’s simply occurring worldwide,” stated Hamner. “Amazon simply laid off 30,000 folks. That’s 30,000 certified people who find themselves going to be on the market, I don’t need to say mucking up loads of the job searches, however competitors is getting better.”
Hamner says this new actuality causes him to pay additional consideration to who he’s attempting to rent and produce on to his staff.
Equally, Glennda Bivens, an Iowa-born, California Bay Space-raised Houston transplant, views the influence 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 in search of to rent new expertise.
“As somebody who has actively been on the job market, it has been actually exhausting discovering alternatives that align with my ability units,” stated Bivens. “Various locations have needed to withdraw various positions because of funding constraints, significantly linked to insurance policies, and simply form of the best way issues are proper now, the dearth of stability.”
Bivens spoke of the influence of 2025 political realities on buddies of hers, a few of whom are in tech, and a few who usually are not.
“I even have actually shut buddies who work inside the federal authorities who’re presently not being paid,” shared Bivens. “We’re actually leaning on each other to be sure that we now have 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 feel there’s a extra silent a part of this expertise politically that it might chip away on the soul and the individuality of people.”
Bivens asserts that proper now, specifically, Black techies and others should maintain quick to the elements of “our heritage, our lineage, our group,” and many others., which have traditionally saved us linked.
“Proper now, it appears as if there’s an even bigger divide and a fracture, not from us, however being imposed upon us,” added Bivens. “So being actually artistic and enthusiastic about how we are able to proceed to construct each other up and keep linked is necessary, as a result of we aren’t each other’s enemy.”
By the Numbers
Regardless of being 11.6% of the full U.S. workforce, Black employees have been solely 7.4% of the high-tech workforce in 2022, exhibiting they’re underrepresented. The variety of Black folks 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 response to 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 folks’s relationship with and use of expertise.
Members of Gen Z are probably the most technologically proficient of every other technology earlier than them, in response to a June 2025 report by Limely. Gen Zers are the youngest members of the present workforce. They have been born between 1997 and 2012, making them between 13 and 28 years previous.
Surprisingly, Millennials, the most important sector of right this moment’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 every other technology. Nielsen studies that greater than 74% of Millennials consider that new expertise makes their lives simpler, and 54% consider that it helps them keep nearer to their family and friends.
Whereas there is no such thing as a single racial group that makes use of and purchases probably the most expertise merchandise general, Black and Hispanic shoppers usually tend to depend on smartphones for web entry and e-commerce. Black Enterprise studies that Black folks within the U.S. are significantly energetic, exhibiting excessive ranges of smartphone possession, social media utilization, and gaming, and are sometimes thought-about early adopters who affect expertise traits.
Want to Work in Tech Fields
The will to extend Black folks’s involvement in tech as workforce members and tech entrepreneurs is rising exponentially by the day.
AfroTech 2025, the latest five-day convention held in Houston, was anticipated to draw over 40,000 attendees from world wide. Included in that quantity have been over 200 tech corporations stated to be actively in search of expertise, C-Suite tech firm members, Black management in nationwide safety, and Black faculty college students seeking to jumpstart their desired careers in tech.
Transferring Ahead
The Denver-based resolution architect, Edokpayi, believes that to attain success shifting ahead, wherever Black techies are on their skilled journey, they should “play offense.”
“Should you’re of the angle, ‘I’ve one thing and I don’t need them to take that from me,’ that makes it exhausting,” stated Edokpayi. “You need 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 folks like me.”
