Diversity and inclusion

People first

Astha

Astha appreciates Zendesk for building a workplace that’s inclusive to everyone. As the Vice President of Product and Platform Marketing, she treats diversity and inclusion as a cultural priority, and makes an effort to build and foster a diverse team. As a leader, she mentors employees looking to develop leadership skills and grow their career.

Craig

Craig is a San Francisco native whose first-hand experience of the tech industry motivated him to claim his spot in the industry. As a co-chair of Mosaic, the Zendesk employee resource group for people of color, Craig constantly works to make sure where he works is an inclusive space for all.

Allison

To Allison, the most misunderstood part about diversity and inclusion is that it’s difficult. As a product designer, inclusivity means making software the most usable for the widest range of people, including—but not limited to—people with disabilities. Her spirit of inclusion and accessibility makes our product more relevant, intuitive, and easier to use for everyone.

Dipesh

Dipesh moved to California to pursue a career in tech. Now he helps our customers as a Technical Support Engineer. He understands the importance of empathy and making sure customers reach a solution. Dipesh values his team and their willingness to help him succeed. With their support, it motivates him to set ambitious goals and learn how to move up in his career.

Anthony

All things tech always piqued Anthony’s attention, but the reality of earning a coveted spot in the industry seemed nearly impossible. That all changed when he was accepted into YearUp, an intensive technical training and career development program that partners with Zendesk. Now Anthony makes sure that underrepresented people know that their voices and perspectives are valued in the industry.

Solu

Solu, originally from Nigeria, started her career in the United States as a software engineer. As a Director of Business Operations, she empowers her colleagues professionally. She serves as the professional development lead for Mosaic, the Zendesk employee resource group for people of color, where she strives to build confidence in every member.

Where we stand

Let’s clear the air. When a business talks about diversity, it can feel forced. At Zendesk, we try to keep it simple. Diversity and inclusion are more than buzzwords, and bigger than the bottom line.

It’s about our people knowing that they’re valued where they work.

Open to all

Employees at Zendesk work hard to build a culture where everyone belongs. Employee Resource Groups play a vital role in creating communities that bring us together and ensure we feel supported at work. We’ll let them speak for themselves—here are their mission statements.

Mosaic

Mosaic is a collective that encourages people of color at Zendesk to embrace and celebrate their differences. Mosaic works together to create a safe space to openly discuss personal experiences, build stronger networks, and provide professional growth opportunities for members and allies through mentorship and peer connections.
Pride

Pride ensures that all LGBTQ+ employees are valued, seen, and supported. Their mission is to invite awareness and inspire their coworkers to create space for the Zendesk LGBTQ+ community. Pride actively promotes diversity in events, and creates partner events, company policy initiatives, and educational opportunities.
Women at Zendesk

Women at Zendesk celebrates women at every level of their careers. WAZ builds a foundation to support women to achieve their personal and professional goals. Efforts include collaborating with recruitment to extend the pipeline to seek qualified women for roles across the company, and working with organizations that uplift women in each office.

Zendesk by the numbers Our representation today

The reality is our whole industry struggles with representation, including us. This is our starting point to see where there’s room for improvement. We’re strengthening the talent pipeline and beginning to incorporate diversity and inclusion efforts with our Recruiting, Total Rewards, and People Development teams.

Global Company Numbers

% by gender identity

Male 63%
Female 37%

Global Leadership Numbers

% by gender identity

Male 68%
Female 32%

Board Demographics

# by gender identity

Male 4
Female 4

Global Tech Numbers

% by gender identity

Male 80%
Female 20%

Age

% by age

0 - 29 34%
30 - 39 47%
40 - 49 15%
50 + 4%

Notes:

All workforce data as of March 31, 2018.

Leadership includes director level or above.

Due to rounding, some figures don’t total 100%.

Tech defined as Engineering, Product, and IT.

We recognize that our current data is limited in that gender is presented as a binary. We know that gender identity isn't binary and will explore how to better reflect this moving forward.

Unconscious bias

We all have unconscious biases—and people we work with have them, too. At Zendesk, we’re taking steps to navigate and acknowledge them.

To make this happen, we launched learning labs in every office to offer in-person working sessions available to all employees. The sessions provide employees with the education and resources to be more aware of unconscious bias, and learn strategies to mitigate them in the workplace.

Mentorship

Getting a foot through the door is just the first step. To further advance the skills of our employees, several mentoring programs have launched to provide professional development and support career growth.

Everwise provides career mentorship to protégés looking to achieve their professional goals. The program connects employees with external mentors, resources, and peer networks to help them be more productive in every stage of their career.

Navigate is a pilot internal mentorship program launched by and for our Engineering team. Over six months, mentors help mentees gather the necessary resources and guidance to thrive as an engineer.

Women at Zendesk launched an internal three-month mentorship program connecting women at Zendesk. The Women’s Mentorship Programs pairs mentors and mentees together to share their experiences, learn from each other, ask for advice, and inspire development in their career path.

Mosaic hosts a speed mentoring event every quarter to provide employees with the opportunity to expand their professional networks, ask career development questions, and receive advice from people in leadership roles.

Our global impact

Where we work is a big part of how we work — we want to see positive change in our neighborhoods, too. To lend an extra set of hands, we partner up with organizations to help shape, educate, and drive progress beyond Zendesk. Here’s just a few.