SALT LAKE CITY — The recent maelstrom of highly publicized sexual harassment allegations have left few business categories unscathed, but a series of incidents that implicated some mega tech companies, and their CEOs, have cast a pall over an industry already struggling to build diversity in its ranks.
Amid the turmoil, however, some see an opportunity to take the first steps toward a paradigm shift that could lead to better, fairer and safer workplaces for all, while also boosting the ranks of women in a sector that is finding challenges in hiring qualified workers to fuel its explosive growth.
“Winston Churchill said, ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste,'” said Utah Technology Council Board Chairwoman Kathryn Murphy. “Right now the media coverage is blowing up these issues, and while that may be a flash in the pan, we have an opportunity before us to take action and start the slow process of change.”