Apple includes “Black, Hispanic, Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander” in the underrepresented group and counts new hires within the last 12 months as of June.
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Apple’s global workforce is 32 per cent lady and 22 per cent underrepresented people. Today, more than half of Apple’s employees declare as white in every category, including Tech 55 percent, Leadership 67 percent, Retail 59 percent, and 56 percent overall. Those identifying as multiracial are 2% and “other” is 1%.
However, Apple’s tech workforce remains 55% white and 27% Asian.
Apple’s workforce is a little more diverse thanks to its efforts in hiring. Hispanics in tech saw a marginal increase from 6 percent in 2014 to 7 percent in 2016. Blacks make up 11% and Hispanics are 16%. Women held 23 per cent of technical positions, up 1 per cent from a year ago, and 28 per cent of leadership positions, unchanged from June last year.
Apple also shared data on its participation in President Obama’s ConnectED initiative to bring technology into underserved schools.
While Apple’s updated numbers do represent significant progress, there’s still a long way to go. “We believe that there are talent pools out there, and we have to create access to them”, she said.
“Apple is making major progress on all levels-at the Board level, James Bell”.
And as Apple has tried to adjust its hiring practices, Denise Young Smith, the company’s VP of Worldwide Human Resources is a black woman, based on the report of Apple Insider. It looks like white male employees gather the majority privileges as an unspoken rule.
Apple began releasing its diversity numbers in 2014. “If a gap exists, we’ll address it”, the Apple report says.
Last year, the management was reported being 63 per cent white and while the figures might represent less ethnic diversity, they could also be the result of a more intensive reporting process say commentators. CEO Tim Cook has been outspoken and proactive about the tech industry’s need for diversity of all kinds, including religion, sexual orientation and gender identity.
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“We want apple to be a reflection of the world around us” Apple’s diversity statement reads. Such pledges seem moot though when we see companies take action apart from government direction.
