Google is Struggling with Attaining a Diverse Workforce

Google is Struggling with Attaining a Diverse Workforce

By: Daniel Steingold | July 01, 2016

Google is known for achieving incredible feats. Yet, there is one challenge it has continued to struggle with.

That challenge would be employee diversity. Over the past few years, the tech giant has devoted many of its resources towards hiring a higher level of women and minority employees.

The numbers really are alarming. At the end of 2015, only two percent of Google’s total workforce was black, while three percent was Hispanic. An small increase in female employees from 2014 to 2015— jumping from 22 percent of Google’s total workforce to 24 percent— was considered cause for celebration.

Meanwhile, 59 percent of Google employees are white and 32 percent are Asian.

The revelation of these figures came via Google’s annual transparency report. Such reports have become commonplace in the tech industry, as tech firms— including Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, and Google— have come under heat for being dominated by white males.

Some initiatives that Google has taken on to increase its workplace diversity include reviewing its hiring and promotion processes and recruiting from historically black colleges. Google has spent $150 million to fund its initiatives.

The tech giant also recently elected its first black board member, a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The Harvard Business Review commented earlier this week, "Leading companies like Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Facebook, and Google have placed big bets on accountability in the past couple of years. They're now posting complete diversity numbers for all to see. We should know in a few years if that moves the needle for them."


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