The Photoroom 2024 diversity report: Beyond the DEI backlash

"Does your commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion mean candidates are selected based on factors like race or gender rather than competence and fit?" a LinkedIn user recently asked.

This widespread misconception suggests that DEI and merit are mutually exclusive. At Photoroom, the reality is the opposite—merit and diversity go hand in hand by ensuring the best talent gets a fair shot.

At a time when many companies are scaling back Diversity, Equity & Inclusion efforts, should others follow? At Photoroom, the answer is clear: we won’t. For us, diversity is a business decision, one that drives innovation, performance, and growth. With over 200 million downloads worldwide, we know that building a product for a diverse audience requires diverse perspectives. That’s why we remain committed to merit-based DEI, as a foundation for long-term success.

We’ve evolved our hiring approach over time; expanding our talent pool internationally, refining our hiring pipeline, and challenging pay disparities to build a fair, structured, and high-performance culture. Today, we monitor diversity at every stage, ensure a rigorous and unbiased hiring process, and continuously work to eliminate bias while maintaining excellence.

What we learned from past mistakes

Cast a wide net rather than restricting opportunities

Our commitment to diversity has evolved over time, shaped by both successes and mistakes. Three years ago, we posted a job listing open only to women. The goal was to proactively increase representation, but the response was a backlash—men assumed Photoroom was only interested in hiring women, which was never the case. It became clear that this approach wasn’t merit-based, nor did it align with our long-term vision of fairness. We learned from this experience and shifted our focus to casting a wide net rather than restricting opportunities.

Prioritize quality of hire over speed

Last year, we set ambitious KPIs based on industry benchmarks, but in hindsight, they weren't realistic for our stage.

• We were scaling rapidly and structuring our hiring team

• The tech industry still has fewer women than men, especially in AI/Machine Learning

• Even with international hiring, the talent pool was limited

Rather than lowering our hiring standards to meet a deadline, we chose to prioritize quality over speed—taking the time to find the right talent instead of rushing to fill roles.

Hire based on skills, not identity

Patricia, Photoroom’s App Engagement Lead, knows firsthand why hiring must always be merit-based.

"I did a coding bootcamp years ago, and some companies were actively hiring more women. One great company fast-tracked me to an offer—without putting me through the full coding assessment. I would have been hired without the same level of rigor as others. I hated that experience. If you hire me, it should be for my skills, not my gender.”

Make sure the best talent gets a fair shot

A common belief is that the best talent naturally rises to the top in a pure meritocracy. But in reality, structural biases, access to networks, and subjective criteria shape career trajectories just as much as individual talent. Fair hiring isn’t just about evaluating candidates, it starts with making sure the best talent gets the opportunity to compete.

While our goal is to build a high-talent-density team, ignoring diversity would be a strategic mistake. To create a product loved by millions worldwide, we need diverse perspectives that fuel creativity, innovation, and better problem-solving. A diverse team helps us build better solutions for a global user base. With over 200 million downloads—more than 1% of the world’s population—we remain committed to our merit-based approach to DEI that strengthens both talent and success.

Photoroom’s approach: merit-based DEI

We always hire the best person for the job—based on skills, experience, and cultural fit. What changes is how widely and fairly we search for that talent.

At Photoroom, we focus on expanding the talent pool. We’ve started by hiring internationally with a remote-friendly workplace, bringing in diverse perspectives from across different regions. We aim for balanced representation of women and men at the top of our hiring pipeline, after which all candidates go through the same evaluation process based on skills and cultural fit. We monitor diversity at every stage and challenge unconscious bias to keep hiring fair and high-performing.

We don’t lower the bar—we raise it by ensuring fair access, and acknowledging the systemic barriers that can stand in the way.

While gender is just one aspect of diversity, it’s a measurable area where we track progress and take action. Our broader DEI efforts foster an inclusive, high-talent environment where everyone can thrive.

So, does Photoroom hire based on merit? Absolutely. But true meritocracy means actively seeking out diverse talent—and removing the barriers that hide it.

Photoroom in numbers: the 2024 snapshot

Over the past year, our team nearly doubled, now reaching 90 people. Despite this rapid expansion, we remained focused on maintaining a diverse, talent-dense team.

• An international team: Photoroom brings together 17 nationalities, with one in two employees non-French. English is our common language.

• Remote-friendly: Team members are spread across 13 different countries. Our no DM policy promotes asynchronous discussions and decisions.

• Gender representation:

  • 36% women overall

  • 20% women in the Board

  • 15% women in leadership roles ('Head of' and above), while this is a major decrease compared to last year, this year, we are expanding our leadership team — and already hired two women at the ‘Head of’ level.

  • 18% women in management

  • 18% women in R&D (Engineering, Product, and Design), representing a 1 percentage point increase compared to last year. The EU tech average is 21%, and we will continue our efforts to close this gap.

Overall, we are committed to fostering a workplace where everyone feels included and valued, regardless of age, race, family status, gender identity, marital status, origin, physical or mental ability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic.

Taking action: what we did in 2024

To ensure diversity remains a key part of our talent-dense team, we took concrete steps to challenge biases and foster fairness.

Gender pay gap analysis

We faced challenges in calculating an adjusted gender pay gap. In a 50-person startup, where roles vary widely in function, level, experience, and location, calculating a clean, adjusted figure was not feasible. Instead, we conducted manual analyses at the company, department, team, and title levels—asking managers two key questions:

• "If the gap is justified, list your arguments."

• "If the gap is not justified, explain how you will decrease it."

With this method, we found no pay disparity for similar roles. Managers welcomed the exercise, calling it “a great way to bring this topic to the table,” which helped increase accountability on pay equity.

For the first time, we also calculated our unadjusted gender pay gap at 32%, compared to the 25% EU Tech industry average. This figure does not factor in role, seniority, country, bonuses, or equity. The main drivers were:

• The highly competitive machine learning (ML) talent market, where salaries increased by 40% over the past year—especially impacting our predominantly male ML team.

• A lower proportion of women in R&D and leadership roles, leading to an overall salary imbalance.

If we want to reduce this gap, we need to increase the representation of women in R&D and leadership through hiring or internal promotions.

We also organized a gender pay gap workshop to explore merit-based solutions beyond hiring or promotion. The key takeaway: using more objective performance criteria and improving traceability in reviews helps reduce the risk of unconscious bias in compensation decisions. As a result, we’ve integrated these insights into our latest performance and compensation review processes.

Performance and calibration review

We refined our performance evaluation process to improve fairness, transparency, and equal growth opportunities.

• We now track performance justifications in Lattice, improving transparency and accountability.

• Calibration sessions include two mandatory women—a direct outcome of our gender pay gap workshop—to create a safe space for challenging decisions.

• We shared concrete examples of unconscious bias with managers ahead of evaluation cycles to support more objective, consistent assessments.

Hiring pipeline & practices

We monitored gender diversity at every stage of the hiring pipeline to identify where the percentage of women dropped and challenge potential biases.

• We prioritized projects and years of experience over formal senior titles when evaluating résumés—acknowledging industry-wide barriers that have limited women’s access to senior roles.

• We encouraged people who refer a man to also refer a woman. As a result, referrals became our strongest source of women candidates this year.

• We mitigated bias during assessments: home assignments in web development are reviewed anonymously, and we ensure a diverse panel of interviewers throughout hiring stages.

• Technical women candidates may also choose to speak with a woman engineer at Photoroom, if they find it helpful during the process.

Support and training initiatives

We continued to invest in programs that support inclusion and personal growth across the team.

• We created #women_at_photoroom, a Slack channel for community and support.

• We hosted women’s coffee breaks to foster connection and informal mentorship.

• We delivered Process Communication Model (PCM) training to improve team communication across personalities and working styles.

• We celebrated career milestones—including promotions following maternity leave—reaffirming our commitment to equitable growth for all.

While gender is not the only dimension of diversity, it’s a measurable area where we track progress and take action. Our broader DEI efforts will continue to foster an inclusive, high-talent environment where everyone can thrive.

Looking ahead: our commitment to fair and high-performing teams

By strengthening structure and transparency, we have already made meaningful improvements to our performance review process and calibration discussions, reducing the risk of bias.

In 2025, we aim to:

✔ Stay an international team by continuing to attract diverse talent from around the world and fostering an inclusive culture across different locations

✔ Measure and improve employee engagement across intersectional factors such as remote vs. onsite and gender, guiding our DEI action plan with data-driven insights

✔ Increase the representation of women in R&D and senior leadership by continuing to refine our hiring processes, improve internal career progression, and actively seek diverse talent

At Photoroom, we'll will continue to shape a world-class, high-performing team where diverse perspectives fuel better decisions, stronger products, and long-term success.

Want to be part of a high-performing, diverse team? Learn more about life at Photoroom and explore open opportunities. Visit our careers page.