Intel invests in hiring and retention programs to support women, and partners with schools to increase talent diversity
Following the most recent Women in Telco Forum, Jeni Panhorst, the VP & GM of the Network & Edge Compute Division at Intel, offered her perspective on where the gender divide in telecom stands, what technology trends are impacting the workforce most and where Intel is investing as it looks to improve its own diversity numbers.
From your perspective, how is telecom doing when it comes to D&I? What positive changes have you witnessed and where do you think the industry still needs to improve?
Representation and pay equity have certainly improved across industries, including telecom, as companies have set and achieved D&I [diversity & inclusion] goals, and the dialogue around D&I has become more transparent and collaborative. But we have more work to do, and we have experienced setbacks too. The Brookings Institute, McKinsey & Company and other analysts have published evidence that during the COVID-19 pandemic women across the globe were more negatively impacted than men due to the need to disproportionately absorb more childcare and family care responsibilities as schools and care facilities closed. This impacted progression and overall employment as a result. As we learn from the pandemic, telecom and other industries need to consider the data and drive solutions to recover from these losses and commit to restore progress.
How would you say the increased focus on tech innovation and pushing the boundaries has impacted telecom hiring practices? Are these companies seeking a more diverse workforce?
There is a huge opportunity for telecom at the edge. Edge computing is catalyzing a new cycle of tech innovation, as compute shifts closer to users and devices to deliver exciting new services. The edge also creates opportunities to deploy new solutions to solve global challenges — energy transformation, sustainable agriculture and food security, water management, and low carbon infrastructure, to name a few. These challenges are faced by a worldwide population that is diverse in gender, racial, ethnic, ability and identity. Diversity has been shown to correlate to higher innovation revenue, because workforce representation enables companies to better understand and respond to customer needs. To overcome challenges and ultimately deliver successful outcomes at the edge and across the tech ecosystem that delivers those solutions requires as innovative and therefore as diverse a labor force as possible.
What are some of the things Intel is doing in diversity & inclusion that you think are interesting or have the most impact?
Intel’s been a leader in D&I for many years — we were one of the first companies to publish a diversity and inclusion annual report and publicly share our diversity metrics. Not only has this kept us accountable, but it has been an impetus for other companies in tech and other industries to increase their transparency.
Intel invests in several areas, including hiring and retention programs, partnerships with schools to increase the talent diversity, support for women in online gaming communities, and so much more. One great example is Intel’s Inclusive Leaders Program (ILP), which I was fortunate enough to be involved in at its inception in 2017. ILP equips Intel employees to develop skills to lead more inclusively by learning alongside their peers in a community.
The curriculum meets people where they are on their inclusion learning journey, while exploring key concepts that build a more inclusive environment and drive higher performing teams. More than 2,000 employees have completed the program, with thousands more in progress. The post-program surveys consistently indicate that more than 90% agree or strongly agree that they have been able to deepen their skills in leading inclusively, and more than 90% agree or strongly agree that they have been able to positively impact their team.
Tell me a little bit about your telecom journey. How did you get here?
All of my nearly 24 years at Intel have been spent in our growth businesses — networking, communications, IOT and edge computing. I’ve held numerous roles in our networking business through the years — applications engineering, solutions architecture, strategic planning and product management. Now as the VP & GM of our Network & Edge Compute Division, my team and I drive the silicon and software portfolio that forms the foundation for network and edge compute infrastructure around the globe. It’s exciting to partner with our customers, ecosystem, and end users to innovate next-generation technology that unlocks new opportunities in telecom and many other industries — manufacturing, energy, federal, consumer industries, critical infrastructure and so much more. One of the most exciting parts of working at Intel is the opportunity to drive this innovation at scale.
What advice do you have for a woman looking to begin or advance her career in telecom?
Start with your purpose — this will provide you with ongoing motivation, lead to greater career satisfaction, and amplify your ability to drive an impact. In telecom, we have such an important purpose: to enable the world to communicate.
Next, learn everything you can about your customers and your ecosystem. Telecom is a tremendously complex industry. Deeply study the challenges your customers are facing, and use that knowledge to unlock new value and opportunity.
Finally, focus on your strengths. Whether your expertise is in technology, business or operations, build on that foundation and seek out complementary expertise to build out your team to drive results.
For more from Jeni Panhorst, check this episode of Well, technically… featuring the Intel executive.
