| Around 80% of the 200 people who work at the Ready Group, a microchip and software development firm just outside Tel Aviv, are women. If that weren't unusual enough for a tech company, many of them aren't stereotypical techies, either. You won't find most of them absorbed in their smartphones — because they're morally opposed to having them. And they prefer Torah study to work-sponsored happy hours. Based in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, Ready Group mostly employs religious women from the community. Chief Executive Officer Racheli Ganot, who founded the company in 2007, sees nothing unusual about the situation. "It's a workplace like any other workplace," she says, shrugging. But, by the numbers, it stands out. According 2022 figures from the government, two-thirds of all tech workers and over 90 percent of CEOs and startup founders are male – stats that haven't budged much in three decades. Only around 5%-6% of tech workers in the country are Arab Israeli or ultra-Orthodox Jews, though the two groups account for a third of the total population. Ganot, who herself was raised in the ultra-Orthodox community, says Ready Group isn't an ultra-Orthodox company. However, its corporate culture respects religious communal norms. Flexible working arrangements allow the women to work from home and spend more time with their large families. When in the office, men and women usually choose to sit separately when not directly working together. The company also offers the option to install internet filters for those who want to block content they deem offensive. There's a nursing room and two human resources reps: an ultra-Orthodox one and a non-religious one, in anticipation that complaints will be rooted in community-specific sensitivities. In Ganot's view, offering such accommodations has helped her attract an overlooked demographic of workers who otherwise wouldn't venture into the industry over modesty concerns. Many of the ultra-Orthodox women she hires are the sole breadwinners of their households, with their husbands engaged in full-time Talmud study. The company also recently hired three women who are Druze, an Arabic speaking close-knit monotheistic religious sect whose conservative values meshed well with Ready Groups', its CEO says.
While Ready Group's situation is pretty country-specific, it offers lessons for any company seeking to hire underrepresented groups: Understanding the needs of the people you're trying to reach goes a long way. — Marissa Newman | 
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