The Government is putting pressure on major technology companies to commit to interviewing at least one female candidate for new jobs, amid fears about a lack of diversity in the industry.

Margot James, the digital minister, will this week write to companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter asking them to adopt the Tech Talent Charter, a set of principles aimed at addressing a lack of senior women at the companies.

The charter has been signed by more than 150 companies and tech organisations, including HP, Cisco and Sage. It commits companies to including women on interview shortlists, as well as submitting diversity data for an annual report.

However, the most visible technology companies are yet to sign up to the pledge. Ms James, who was appointed digital minister in last month’s reshuffle, said she wanted to “tackle the gender imbalance in the tech workforce”.

Just 17pc of IT workers in the UK are female and there is a shortfall of women taking computer science degrees, despite a perceived talent shortage in the UK.