Most engineers have seen firsthand how experimentation makes way for transformation. Chu-Cheng Hsieh, Etsy's Chief Data Officer, recently joined Cindi Howson of ThoughtSpot to discuss how experimentation has influenced rapid growth and evolution here at Etsy as well as within his previous roles. Listen in to hear Chu-Cheng’s insights around challenges facing data professionals today, and his recommendations for embracing those obstacles as opportunities for innovation.
For the third year in a row, we’ve been recognized as one of the Best Places To Work For LGBTQ+ Equality in HRC Foundation's Corporate Equality Index! Building a more and more inclusive workplace is a key DEI commitment of ours. We’re particularly appreciative to our Queer at Etsy and Marginalized Gender Identities Community Employee Resource Groups for continuing to foster supportive spaces for our community, and for working closely with our incredible Benefits Team to build – and continuously better – offerings developed with everyone in mind. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool for measuring policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) employees. Their data shows year over year growth in the adoption of these critical policies and practices, and we’re proud to have been included among leaders in this commitment to equality.
We’re proud to share that Etsy is once again participating in Bloomberg LP's Gender-Equality Index (GEI)! Highlights from Etsy’s provided insights include benefits like equal paid family leave for all employees, annual publication of our diversity statistics, and an ongoing commitment to pay equity. The names included in the Bloomberg GEI are public companies that disclose their efforts to support gender equality. Based on metrics related to leadership and talent pipeline, gender pay and equal pay parity, an inclusive culture, and anti-sexual harassment policies, Bloomberg has determined that the companies reflected in the 2022 Index scored above the GEI Score threshold for inclusion commitments. Interested to learn more? Explore their reporting framework, insights, and data fact sheet here.
Interested in learning how AI and machine learning are fueling ecommerce? Our CTO, Mike Fisher, recently joined The Robot Brains Podcast to discuss the future of online marketplaces and the roles these technologies are playing in the ongoing transformation of Etsy’s platform. With nearly 100M items listed on Etsy, our site processes a lot of data! Mike shares details of Etsy’s evolution with Pieter Abbeel, from how our teams rebuilt our search engine capabilities to designing more intelligent algorithms to provide better and more accurate recommendations. Listen in to learn more!
What’s an engineer to do when they have a hundred million rows of data to update? As the saying goes, “One does not simply Product.update_all(“rate_new = rate_old”).” In this most recent Reverb Fretboards & Motherboards blog post, our colleague and Infrastructure Engineer Carl Thuringer explains the efforts he and his team made to more effectively perform several large backfills of this style in a hands-off, throttled, and safe way using Sidekiq. Although the solution continues to be a work in progress, the approach will resonate with many fellow engineers.
We are so proud to have earned top spots on Built In NYC’s 2022 lists of the 100 Best Places to Work, 100 Best Large Companies to Work For, and Top 50 Companies with Best Benefits! These recognitions are a testament to our people. It's thanks to their willingness to provide feedback and ideas – and to the teams who transform that feedback into action – that we're able to continuously and meaningfully evolve our programming, offerings, and environment. Thank you to our #Etsy People teams, Workplace teams, as well as all of our leaders, who work tirelessly to help our colleagues continue to feel supported, informed, and part of something larger than themselves. Interested in joining our team? Be sure to check out our Careers page to learn more about Etsy and our open roles.
We’re proud to share that our Chief Financial Officer, Rachel Glaser has been included in Crain's New York Business 2021 list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in New York. Crain’s editors picked the women making the biggest waves in their respective fields, across industries, who are helping to set the agenda for how New York rebuilds post-pandemic. Rachel’s impact on Etsy's tremendous 2020 stock price growth helped to earn her a top spot.
Etsy’s JavaScript update to ES6 in 2020 brought a lot of positive changes to our codebase and platform performance, but some problems persisted. The solution? Typescript. The Web Platform team integrated Typescript into the Etsy monorepo through both technical and interpersonal skills. The development of file migration guides, use of typed API responses, presence of an outside expert speaker, and a variety of accolades helped with the widespread adoption among #engineers. This Code as Craft blog piece tells the full story.
We are proud to share that Insider recently named Toni Thompson, Etsy’s VP of People Strategy and Operations, as one of the 16 diversity executives transforming the workplace in post-George Floyd corporate America. This annual list recognizes executives that are helping break barriers for hundreds of thousands of workers while also collaborating with their CEOs to make their policies and business practices more inclusive. As Toni said, "It's very natural for companies to be laser-focused on the financials and goal achievement that influence the financial health of the company. There are many HR and DEI efforts that support the top and bottom line, but it's hard for people to make those connections. I'm thankful the executive team at Etsy gets it." Etsy takes pride in the progress we’ve made but we also acknowledge that we're on a long-term journey towards greater diversity, equity and inclusion. Congratulations and thank you to Toni for her continued support in identifying meaningful opportunities, and to the many colleagues who continuously help us to drive tangible change.
Just in time for holiday shopping, our very own Josh Silverman met with President Biden and other private sector leaders at the White House for a discussion around global supply chain challenges and the unique strengths of small businesses. He shared how Etsy sellers – who typically don’t rely on overseas production and fulfillment lines – are agile, resilient, and ready to deliver unique and handcrafted items to their customers when other retailers may not be able to do so. Representing the voice of small businesses, our CEO championed our dynamic sellers and reminded the administration to consider actions that promote an environment where small businesses are able to operate and thrive. Interested in learning more about the power of small business and why shopping small matters? You can read more here.
