Today, Verbit was recognized as one of the Top 5 large private companies leading in diversity and inclusion efforts in Israel. Verbit was ranked to the top of the list of companies with 500 or more employees alongside the likes of Yotpo, Minute Media and HiBob following findings from an annual report conducted by Power in Diversity Israel.
Verbit’s data was analyzed alongside that of a total of 650 active Israeli venture-backed companies with 50 or more employees in Israel. The full report can be read here.
Verbit’s CEO and Founder, Tom Livne, and Chief Human Resources Officer, Dikla Edlis, attended the live event in Tel Aviv today, ‘Diversity as the new normal’, where the results were announced.
Livne and Edlis were proud to represent Verbit at the event, which also covered common issues of diversity, inclusion and social responsibility that today’s tech companies are facing. As strong advocates for women in the workplace, Livne and Edlis view diversity and women representation as key elements necessary to drive effective innovation and growth.
The event featured leading executives as speakers from the Women’s Lobby in Israel, Leumitech, Mitar, Kumara Capital, Reichman University, Pitango, Siraj Technologies and others.
The impact of Power in Diversity Israel
Power in Diversity Israel (PIDI) is a joint venture of over 70 Israeli VC firms and over 200 Israeli startups. It is renowned for its efforts and focus on celebrating and promoting diversity and inclusion in the Israeli tech industry. Its leaders believe that strong companies are built on creativity, ingenuity and diversified talents.
“For Israel to continue to serve as an international model for innovation, it is essential that the members of the Israeli tech industry reflect the diverse world we live in. As we increase diversity within our community, our companies – and society as a whole – we will achieve greater success,” a PIDI spokesperson said.
Power in Diversity produced the report for the first time last year. This year, it collected data between November 1 through December 31, 2022 and also included metrics in this year’s report which showcased the representation of both ultra-Orthodox and Arab individuals, as well as women.
Additional report findings worth noting
The report uncovered a very slight improvement in the status of women’s representation in the startup ecosystem. Israel’s population is comprised of 51% of women. Yet, only 34% of startup employees in Israel are women. This reality showcases a small increase of 0.4% from 2021.
A total of 24% of women were found to hold management positions, indicating a small increase of 0.6% since 2021. Additionally, the percentage of women in technological positions stands at 27.8%.
PIDI noted in its report that companies must look to craft more gender-diversified Board of Directors and promote women to more leadership positions as next steps. The report also suggested that since R&D roles are considered to be the most stable ones in the industry, offering pipeline to the next generation of tech managers and entrepreneurs is also needed.
Mid-size companies – those with 100-500 employees – who made the top of the list included Tailor Brands, Syte and ZenCity. The small companies – those with 50-100 employees – which made the top of their category as recognized in the report included Phone.do, Darrow and RiseUp.
The report also noted that many of the companies which were analyzed last year reported better data in the form of diversity and women representation in 2022, which “implies a wind of change in the industry. Nevertheless, averaging each piece of data demonstrates that there is room for improvement in the industry and in the Israeli culture.”
While Verbit and its team are proud of this recognition, the company will continue to do its part in actively seeking out diverse talent to fill open roles. The company is also putting further performance review plans in place to ensure it is promoting and rewarding in-house talents and strong performers to leadership positions.
