Economic volatility has reversed progress in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives among organizations, according to a new report by tech and sales jobs platform Hired. And despite hiring leaders’ efforts, recruitment bias still exists in 56% of industries.

Hiring bias continues in tech, according to the “2023 Impact Report: State of Wage Inequality in the Tech Industry” report; in 2022, 38% of positions only submitted interview requests to men, up from 37% reported in 2021.

“Recent economic volatility, concerns about the impact of automation and AI on jobs, and salary transparency laws have shaken up the tech workforce,” said Hired CEO Josh Brenner. “Unfortunately, many companies have deprioritized DEI initiatives, while wage inequality continues to disproportionately impact underrepresented groups.”

The most common hiring biases are gender, 17%; race, 12%; and age, 11%, according to the report. In addition, certain groups have also been disproportionately affected by wage bias, particularly women and racial and ethnic minorities.

The report also found that economic volatility has reversed progress in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives among organizations surveyed. While 20% reported their organizations have already scaled back DE&I initiatives, 12% said DE&I programs are at risk if economic conditions continue.

However, while 99% of recruiters said they are making efforts to ensure fairness, 59% said hiring bias is down significantly compared to three years ago.

The survey included proprietary data from Hired’s platform from January 2018 to December 2022 as well as survey data from 229 tech hiring leaders and 1075 tech employees and job seekers in the US.