Google recently released its third diversity report since it began publishing such data in 2014. The latest report shows little has changed since then and reveals the tech giant still employs mostly white men with just 2% of its employees being Black and just 20% of its tech employees being women. Here’s the summary of the current ethnic and gender makeup of Google’s employees:
- 75% of Google’s leaders globally are men
- 2% of its employees in the U.S. are Black
- Just 20% of tech employees are women
- But 48% of non-tech employees are women
- More than a third of Google’s U.S. employees are Asian
Google is obviously aware of its lack of progress in hiring new minority staff. The company’s vice president of people and operations, Eileen Naughton, announced that Google has hired Danielle Brown as vice president of diversity. Brown, who left Intel earlier this month, will start her new role with Google in July where she will take responsibility for the company’s diversity and inclusion policies.
Brown said on Twitter Thursday that she was thrilled to join Google as vice president of diversity.
Thrilled to join @Google as VP of Diversity! Very inspired by the team here and looking forward to driving this important work forward.
— Danielle Brown (@dmbrown1) June 29, 2017
In a company blog post, Naughton said, “More than other industries, the technology sector is extremely open about its challenges in creating a diverse and inclusive workforce. We all welcome the conversation and the scrutiny; it helps us raise the bar in terms of this important work and our commitment to it.”
Dan Lyons, author of Disrupted and a former producer and writer for HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” believes the “challenges” the technology sector faces regarding diversity won’t disappear until tech venture capitalists begin losing money for investing in companies that are overwhelmingly white and male.
Speaking to CNBC, Lyons said, “I think it’s only going to get fixed when [venture capitalists] realize it’s going to cost them money. I think that’s how craven they are.”
Lyons named Google and Facebook as examples of tech companies where people of color are underrepresented and where Black employees in particular are almost “non-existent.” Facebook’s most recent diversity report, which was released in July 2016, almost reflects Google’s diversity report. Over 50% of Facebook’s workforce is white with 90% being either white or Asian; 33% percent are women and 2% percent are Black.
While both Google and Facebook have pledged to increase diversity and continue to make the data public, Lyons doubts the sincerity of their words. “I don’t think they care about making the world a better place or diversity or hiring or being inclusive,” he stated. “I think they only give a shit about money and this is only going to change when this hurts them financially.”
Danita White for TechFunnel.com
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