How WePay Created its FinTech Culture
There has been a lot of talk about diversity and inclusion (D&I) this year, especially within the tech industry. In the past, the industry has been under scrutiny and seemingly unwilling to address these issues head-on. In fact, this Computerworld article quotes a 2019 Wired survey, that estimated that the combined Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous population at Silicon Valley firms averages 5%.
At WePay, we have always been proud of the fintech culture we’ve built. As leaders, we know that culture stems from us. We invest a great deal of time and effort on the leaders we bring in and the message we’re sending to our employees.
This year, we’ve doubled down on our commitment to our D&I initiatives by bringing more women and people of color through our doors – from developer teams to senior management.
Expanding our hiring tactics
Talent exists among diverse populations and requires looking outside ‘traditional hiring practices.’ At WePay, we challenge ourselves to identify new ways to attract and retain underrepresented talent from channels not targeted in the past, like partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities. We’ve also been partnering with code academies like All Star Code and Women Who Code to identify and hire a class of diverse candidates so we give people with non-traditional backgrounds a chance. Opportunity is not always created equally, even if the talent is there.
Our engineering recruitment process starts with a coding test to decrease bias early on. Additionally, everyone at WePay who conducts engineering candidate interviews must be certified to do so to ensure these interviews are fair. This includes having someone else monitor a few interviews before an interviewer receives sign-off to interview independently. We also ensure a diverse interview panel for candidates who make it through the test phase.
As a result, we have doubled our 2020 goal for Black and Latinx new hires. We have also achieved at least 50% diversity in our 2020 Summer Intern candidate pool.
Women of WePay
Mentoring women is also important to our culture. Women of WePay is employee-run group where our women leaders mentor other women across the organization from across divisions. This commitment extends from WePay to our parent company, JPMorgan Chase. Almost half of Jamie Dimon’s direct reports are women. That stat is inspiring, especially when learning more about JPMC’s Women on the Move. We’ve been actively involved in Women on the Move, which is the firm’s commitment to providing women with opportunities to succeed in their professional and personal lives. The program’s key objectives are to expand women-run businesses, improve women’s financial health, and advance women’s career growth. Through these efforts, we are on our way to securing an equal future for our female employees.
We take great pride in the amazing fintech culture we have built, but recognize that our work is never really done. We’re continuing our commitment to our D&I initiatives next year. Check out our current openings to join us today!