Why Hiring a Diversity Manager is Just Half the Battle in Today’s Market

With 11 million open jobs in the US today, companies are scrambling to fill positions. After investing time and financial resources, it should be seen as a success when a firm makes a hire, considering the competition there is for talent. This is especially true in the exploding market of the diversity manager, or more broadly DEI management roles. Diversity manager roles, according to an early 2022 LinkedIn study, are the second-fastest-growing job title over the past five years.

However, many firms are finding that hiring a diversity manager is where the real work begins. Companies continue to report that chief diversity officers, or CDOs, are in-and-out roles; turnover is too high to keep quality CDO hires around. Bill Kasko, President of Frontline Source Group, helps breakdown why so many new diversity manager hires leave within months of their start date, and the factors companies have to consider when matching a person with a position.

Bill’s Thoughts:

“I think there’s multiple parts to this question and you have to really look at it from two different angles. Number one, there’s turnover taking place. There’s hiring going on and there’s turnover taking place. Part of that, it doesn’t matter whether it’s diversity and inclusion jobs or other jobs, that’s happening across the board because people are interviewing for raises.

And so, they’re out there looking at opportunities, and opportunities are out there, and they’re paying more. So, when you’re in a specific group, like a diversity and inclusion type of an area, you’re looking at opportunities because they’re paying more for other opportunities that are available for people in the job market today.

The other part is that we have to remember there are 11 million open positions in the country. So even with a slowdown, a slowing, whatever you wanna call it, there’s still gonna be opportunity for people. And everyone’s gonna be looking at, ‘how can I get a little bit extra? How can I make things work?'”