Women @Outbrain: #BreaktheBias

At Outbrain, we recently hit the amazing milestone of recruiting our 1000th employee. Today, on International Women’s Day, we are very proud to note that 48% of our employees are made up of women vs an average of 36% across the so-called GAFAM group. Being above the industry average does not happen overnight – it has taken a lot of time and effort and whilst growing as a business we have made a purposeful effort to ensure our people strategy is aligned to both the mission of the business and the vision of who we want to be! 

Recruiting in tech is not easy ,and attracting talented women for all our open opportunities isn’t either. At Outbrain we pay particular attention to our hiring plans for women: from revisiting job descriptions (ie. gender neutral job titles, limiting the number of requirements, ensuring pronouns are correct and expressing our company values)  to posting vacancies in diverse job portals, to emphasizing our referral program. Tapping into our female leaders to share their working experience at Outbrain with candidates has also been very powerful! But we do not stop here, our buddy program is another incredible opportunity to pair new female talent with other female Outbrainers, so that they have someone they can learn from and lean into on how the organization works and how to be set up for success in the role. 

Internal mobility has been an extremely important part of our success story. I know every organization has employees that struggle to champion and ‘sell’ themselves – this is why we headhunt talent internally to ensure all voices have the opportunity to be heard. Rolling out training for leaders and managers as well as creating internal awareness campaigns for open roles has helped drive the results. 

All of these initiatives do not work in isolation however and it has been a true effort from the business. The most important aspect towards gender equality, has been to ensure gender equality is an open conversation topic across the organisation. We look to create safe spaces to speak openly, where we can remind ourselves of our mission and hold ourselves accountable over time to measure meaningful change.

Breaking the bias and creating a diverse and supportive workplace requires a culture of inclusion. While we have come a long way, there is still much work to do to ensure that we continue to cultivate an environment that enables women to grow and flourish, as professionals and each as their own unique individual.

WE are One

One of the ways Outbrain supports women is via its WE initiative, the Women’s Empowerment group. The Employee Resource Group, which is open to women and men, aims to work together to generate initiatives to bolster women’s opportunities and achievements within the organization. By sharing knowledge, experiences and ideas, WE provides a space where employees can focus their energy and creativity and explore how to advance women in the global Outbrain ecosystem, and ensure that we have equal representation by both men and women at all levels and in all roles across Outbrain.

HERck-a-thon

Unfortunately, the ratio of women to men engineers worldwide is still just 1:5. At Outbrain we are proud to have made progress in this area and currently have a ratio of 1:3 female to male engineers – but we are still on our journey to ensure this is 100% equal. As part of this effort we are thrilled to host the first ever Outbrain Engineering Women’s Hackathon in Israel, taking place today, on International Women’s Day. Every single initiative counts to help us change the way we see certain jobs and industries. By organizing a Hackathon on IWD we are contributing to shift the idea of tech as  male dominated and hopefully inspiring more young women to become engineers.   

The tech hackathon is organized by women to empower other tech women to expand their network and toolbox. During the event, Outbrain’s women engineers come together with women from other companies and industries to support and mentor one another in turning their technology dreams into reality. 

Outbrain Encourages Women in Ad Tech 

There’s no better way to hear about Outbrain’s dedication to women’s empowerment than in the words of Outbrain’s female leadership. On Women’s Day 2022, here’s what some of them had to say:

“This year’s IWD theme is #BreakTheBias, which is something everyone can do! Identify bias when you see it, whether deliberate or unconscious. At Outbrain, it’s empowering to know you can call bias out and your colleagues are receptive and motivated to be the change.” Veronica Gonzalez, Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel 

“Having a big family at home and also big responsibilities leading the team and strategically managing a complex product at work is something that can only be successful with a network of supporters, trust, strong collaboration culture and plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. Together we are making a great positive impact.” Karmen Mlinar, Head of Zemanta Product.

“Female voices can only be heard, if we listen! Creating an inclusive environment for women, and encouraging those with softer voices to speak up – this is why I am proud to work at a company like Outbrain. Cultivating this type of environment takes time, courage and dedication. As a woman in a leadership role, I use every day as a new opportunity to empower other women in tech.” Maggie Flick, Head of Business Operations, International

Want to advance your career as a woman in one of the world’s leading adtech companies? Want to be part of the movement to #BreaktheBias? Check out our open career opportunities worldwide.