On Oct. 1, the Detroit Regional Chamber and MichAuto hosted an exclusive virtual event unveiling and discussing the findings from McKinsey & Co.’s Fall 2024 Detroit/Metro Black Tech Talent Survey, which assessed Black tech talent attraction and retention in Detroit.
Opening the conversation, McKinsey & Co.’s Horace Tiggs IV dove into the impacts of a lack of Black tech talent in tech roles and the headwinds companies face when trying to identify and activate Black tech talent.
The report’s most compelling findings include:
Tiggs also stressed the value at stake for businesses, saying the survey found that organizations with Black tech executive leadership outperform peers.
“There’s not necessarily cause and correlation between the two, but the more diverse your company is, the bigger [economic] bump you’ll get in your business,” he said.
Following the presentation, Chamber Board Member and McKinsey & Co. Managing Partner Aaron Aboagye moderated a conversation with industry leaders and innovators to discuss the findings and explore strategies for all to build a more inclusive tech ecosystem. Some such strategies include bringing more algebra and computer science curricula back into classrooms – critical to developing essential problem-solving, technical, and literary skills among students and the tech talent of tomorrow.
“It goes back to the root cause that there isn’t a focus to push tech at a young age,” Felten added. “One thing I found working with the youth is if they have common literary skills, they are able to write code.”
Bright also encouraged employers to provide “front-end funding” for students so they can complete their postsecondary degrees.
“It’s ensuring that Black tech talent stays in school, gets the training they need, gets access to mathematics,” Bright said. “I think it’s going to take more partnership between training, mentoring, and education so we can bolster the pipeline.”
A good example of “front-end funding” in action is the Detroit Promise, a last-dollar scholarship that ensures all eligible Detroit residents have a tuition-free path to an associate degree, bachelor’s degree, or technical certificate at participating academic institutions.
The panelists also discussed how Michigan’s tech industry faces systemic biases that make it difficult to hire and retain Black workers. To combat it, there needs to be systemic change through investment in upskilling and reskilling programs, second chance hiring, and promoting diversity in leadership roles through mentorship and internal development programs.
“What keeps a CEO up at night is the challenge of finding good talent,” Green said. “From a corporate perspective, we have to continue thinking about our strategy around retirement, and we have to be intentional about what we’re doing.”
Rounding out the program, the panelists also discussed the difficulty of accessing investment capital in Michigan, especially for Black startups, which hinders innovation and entrepreneurial growth in the state.
“I got a rude awakening when I started fundraising [for Automation Workz] … not one serious investor from Michigan,” Byrd-Hill said. “If you really want innovation in Michigan, you’re going to have to write a check.”
