First it was Google, then it was Yahoo and now Facebook has released their workplace diversity statistics only to find that the company is largely made up of white men- what a surprise?
It seems that all of Silicon Valley wants the world to know that they lack workplace diversity as now Facebook has released their current statistics.
“At Facebook, diversity is essential to achieving our mission,” Maxine Williams, global head of diversity, wrote. “We build products to connect the world, and this means we need a team that understands and reflects many different communities, backgrounds, and cultures.”
While it is noble that these tech companies are striving to bring attention to the lack of diversity, at the same time they all seem to make statements such as- ‘not many blacks and hispanics hold degrees’ and ‘not many women are into computer science’. And these largely generalized statements have caused a bit of an uproar.
69 percent of those who work at Facebook are men and 31 percent are women. In terms of ethnicity, 57 percent of the workplace is white, Asians make up 34 percent and Hispanics and blacks make up 8 percent.
At the top of the food chain, all the senior level executives are white men.
“As these numbers show, we have more work to do,” Williams stated. “A lot more.”
In order to close the disparities in the workplace, Facebook has started working with the Anita Borg Institute, the National Center for Women and Information Technology and Girls Who Code.
They have also started working with the national Society of Black Engineers and the Socity of Hispanic Professional Engineers.
Facebook is also developing new recruitment strategies and is now going to offer Employee Resource Groups which support workers from other cultures, those who are gay or lesbian, and veterans.
“We’re absolutely committed to achieving greater diversity at Facebook and across the industry,” concluded Williams.