Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is no passing fad, according to Google research into search results, which shows the impetus for change is coming from within businesses. But do they have the resources they need to improve workplace equity?

Over the past three years, Google found that searches for workplace diversity, equity and inclusion issues have risen consistently. While it isn’t clear whether it’s employers or employees making these searches, it’s clear that workplace culture has shifted.

Searches for ‘gender pronouns in the workplace‘ have grown by 500% during this time, while searches for ‘unconscious bias at work’ have risen by 58% during the same period.

Google’s data shows that people are not only increasingly searching for information on DEI topics, but they’re also engaging with awareness days around important equity issues. For example, there was a spike in searches around ‘unconscious bias at work’ in March 2022, which coincided with International Women’s Day, and this year’s theme ‘breaking the bias’.

However, while people are clearly more engaged with DEI topics, information searches around workplace discrimination are also unfortunately growing. Google found that ‘bullying, harassment and discrimination at work’ searches grew by three-fifths (62.5%), ‘disability discrimination at work’ searches by half (51.25%), ‘racial discrimination at work’ by 40.3%, and ‘age discrimination at work’ searches by almost a third (30.6%), during this three-year period.

Discrimination trends are also seen in recent employee tribunal data. Employment law and HR advisory firm WorkNest revealed that nearly half of the employment tribunal claims they received between Jan 2019 – Dec 2021 included some form of discrimination, with disability being the protected characteristic most relied upon by claimants. WorkNest also saw a 52% rise in sex-related discrimination claims and a 27.3% rise in race discrimination claims during this time.

So what does this say about the state of DEI in the workplace today? Firstly, people are more aware and engaged in DEI topics, including wanting to understand key equity problems. The rising searches and reporting around discrimination, however, could be attributed to increasing awareness around DEI and dealing with inequity, and importantly, people feeling more empowered to speak up against discrimination.

But rising awareness about DEI won’t lead to equitable change unless employers and employees have access to learning resources, and this is just what global compliance and performance eLearning provider DeltaNet International is providing.

Their new collection of online DEI training solutions includes 15 courses to improve diversity and inclusion awareness for employees and managers, with an aim to reduce workplace discrimination in the UK and globally. The materials will help them understand UK equality legislative requirements, including gender equality, disability inclusion and dealing with sexual harassment.

Darren Hockley, Managing Director at DeltaNet International said: “The data reveals that discriminatory issues continue to rise in the workplace; business leaders and HR teams are responsible for tackling these issues to provide a safe and welcoming working environment for all employees to thrive in. We believe that diversity and inclusion must be at the core of an organisation; we want to help employees and employers evolve from a compliance-based model to embracing true cultural change.”

Information on DeltaNet’s diversity and inclusion training collection can be found here.

In this article, you learned that:

• Google searches for ‘gender pronouns in the workplace’ have grown by 500% over the past three years.
• They also found that ‘bullying, harassment and discrimination at work’ searches grew by three-fifths (62.5%), with similarly high rises for disability and race-related discrimination.
• e-learning provider DeltaNet International is providing DEI related learning materials for managers and employees to help them understand UK equality legislative requirements, including gender equality, disability inclusion and dealing with sexual harassment.