'Go for it, speak up and make yourself visible' - Women in Tech - International Women's Day
What you cannot see does not exist, so representation is very important indeed.
- Raquel Flórez, Partner
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What do you do and how is tech relevant to your role?
I think tech is now part of our lives, so we all are involved, whether we like it or not. And, within this field, my expertise is on the people and reward side, i.e., the individuals, the talent and the human resources side.
What do I specialise in? On the one hand, there is the work we do for tech companies, which is always demanding and inspiring, as law always goes behind reality, and we are coming to a stage where reality is advancing at a pace that it is difficult for legislation to catch-up with it.
So we are supporting clients navigate new issues applying old law, and also applying new legislation which has not been tested before. As an example of this, we have been working for a platform on reclassification issues: the new ways of working do not really fit within the traditional concepts of law, but regulators and courts still assess reality on the basis of those concepts, and we are supporting our client to challenge some of those “old” ideas.
On the other hand, we are helping traditional businesses in their path towards digitalisation, which gives rise to many employment challenges. This goes from changes of terms and conditions of employment, to restructurings, and also to retention of talent and looking for new ways to attract young talent to corporations.
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
It is an important day. It would be great that we did not have to celebrate it because equality was already a reality but, if we are honest, this is far from close, and so it is very important to have these specific dates to bring the focus of society on unsolved issues. According to the Women UN, we would need 286 years to achieve equality – this is incredibly unfair to all the women out there, and we all need to do something to change this reality. Having a date like International Women's Day is a good reminder of this.
Notwithstanding the above, it is also a date to celebrate what we have achieved, and to network with colleagues and acknowledge that there is still a lot to be done, and that we can all work together to achieve equality.
What trends are you hearing from clients with regards to tech?
There is much discussion about hybrid and remote working, and about the advantages and disadvantages of both. It now seems that these arrangements have become a more permanent tool for organisations to attract and retain staff. This development in the world of work is generally enjoyed by employees, but what does it mean for employers? We are working with clients to help them deal with some of the key challenges associated with hybrid and remote working and how employers can tackle them.
We are also seeing an increasing number of companies partnering with “employers of record” (EoRs). This arrangement is particularly popular amongst companies in rapid growth mode (including many in the tech sector): EoRs “employ” individuals in countries where the companies themselves do not have a formal corporate presence.
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This allows them to access global talent and expand into new jurisdictions with relative ease and speed. US companies, who are already familiar with the use of third-party employment agencies across state borders, are also keen subscribers to EoR services. Again, in other countries, this raises several challenges, and we are supporting clients work on those.
What are you most looking forward to in the tech space?
The recent advancements with OpenAI are exciting – so far I am only experiencing with those on my free time, but the type of responses and conversations one may engage in with a machine seem from a science fiction movie.
How important is representation in the tech industry and have you ever felt that your gender has been a barrier?
What you cannot see does not exist, so it is very important indeed.
Interestingly enough, several of the bigger tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta or Google have had women CEOs in Spain, and this has been the case for some years. Maybe these companies were ahead in digitalisation and diversity, and that this is why all of them were run by women. Having them as role models is very helpful in changing perceptions, and preventing that gender might be considered a barrier.
Having said that, the world of engineers is still very male – driven, so as always, depending on the circumstances in certain areas there may be under-representation of women, but as a lawyer I have not felt that being a woman was a barrier when working for the tech industry.
What advice would you give to a woman interested in a career in technology?
To go for it – we tend to overthink things, and believe that we are not prepared to do certain things, but the truth is usually we are as prepared as our male colleagues – to speak up and to make yourself visible.
Read more about Raquel and her work.
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As part of our International Women’s Day 2023 celebrations, we’re supporting the United Nation's theme of ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’ and sharing reflections from our talented colleagues who are leading the way in tech.