BNP Paribas to recruit 1,000 more women in IT

Spanish bank BNP Paribas will recruit 1,000 more women to its tech team by the end of 2024 as part of its strategy to feminise IT. It will recruit externally and internally to hit its ambitious target.

The bank said: “This commitment reflects the current challenge: women are still under-represented in this key sector – at the BNP Paribas Group, in the financial sector and, more broadly, across society.”

It said stereotypes are preventing young girls, students or active women from “taking the plunge and moving into professions and technologies that today influence our lifestyles and consumption patterns”.

But the benefits to the business are important, according to Isabelle Moirez, human resources (HR) director for IT at BNP Paribas, who added: “Balanced teams produce more effective solutions that better meet the needs of users in their diversity.”

The bank is also targeting existing female employees by raising awareness of its plans and offering training.

The challenge of gender diversity in the “tech” professions also concerns female employees already working in the group, it said. In order to bring more of them into these professions, the HR teams are multiplying training and awareness-raising initiatives and are putting forward very inspiring role models that invite everyone to “take the plunge”.

In 2020, BNP Paribas Group’s IT department launched a dedicated programme, Women In IT, to attract women into the sector.

It set out to “raise awareness of IT professions among young girls and female students, identify and attract women who could be recruited into IT, train women in IT professions, and retain women in IT”.

The financial services group has initiatives running across Europe, including Women & Girls in Tech in France, and a Women in STEM project in Italy. In Turkey, the group runs its TEB Women Academy, which offers digital courses, networking, and pro bono consulting and mentoring services.