Salesforce Wants To Beat Google For ‘Best British’ Tech Employer Title
EXCLUSIVE: Salesforce bets on diversity boost appeal to UK tech workers over Google
Salesforce is on a mission to be seen as a better employer than Google in the UK, and thinks that its focus on diversity can help achieve that, according to internal documents seen by TechWeekEurope.
The documents claim Salesforce is the “the best technology company” to work for in the UK, and that it is possibly “above Google” in that regard.
The memo also suggests that Salesforce’s own offices may be better than Google’s London headquarters, and “head and shoulders” above other companies.
London expansion
Salesforce announced on Thursday its intentions to expand its current offices in London’s Heron Tower, otherwise known as the Salesforce Tower. The company will increase the number of floors it occupies at the 110 Bishopsgate skyscraper to 10 floors, up from four, according to Business Insider.
Read: Salesforce expands investment into British startups
But Salesforce has chosen a tough competitor in the form of Google.
The US company is one of the most sought after employers in tech in the UK, and currently has three central London offices – one near Tottenham Court road and two in Victoria. There’s also the DeepMind artificial intelligence offices near King’s Cross.
The offices contain all the oddities, quirks and perks you’d expect from the Alphabet subsidiary, including games rooms, canteens, and relaxing roof terraces.
Diversity
The memo’s mention of diversity taps into the current global push for equality in the technology space. Whilst Google publicly released its diversity report late last year, Salesforce actually featured in Fortune’s ’50 best workplaces for diversity’ survey in 2015. The report showed Salesforce’s workforce was 31 percent women, and 31 percent of its workforce was made up of minorities.
Salesforce also runs numerous programs designed to increase diversity of both gender and minorities in the workplace, such as the Women’s Advancement program, in which managers can nominate so-called ‘future leaders’ to take courses on career development.
This is all alongside CEO Marc Benioff’s passionate supporting of LGBQT rights, and his vehement opposition to the US state of Georgia’s anti-LGBTQ bill.
Read: Meet The Salesforce Executive Campaigning To Keep Women In Tech
Yesterday, at Salesforce’s World Tour in London, UK managing director Andy Lawson told TechWeekEurope that boosting diversity in not only Salesforce but technology in general is a top priority for the company.
“The government has to do something about it, organisations of any size have to do something about it. We, as individuals, also have to do something about it. We’ve got to encourage. And I appreciate my teams going and talking about careers to schools…and in technology, we all have to do a lot more.
“But we’re trying to make a difference. A lot of you have seen the coverage Marc [Benioff] has been doing,” he added. “It’s our duty as an organisation.”
