#SiliconValleySoWhite
The tech industry has talked a lot about being more diverse, but the numbers still are low |
JT felt hopeful about his chances of landing a job at Facebook. The 26-year-old African-American man had been referred by a friend who works there, he has master’s degrees in engineering and business, he holds a senior management role at a major U.S. telecom company, and his interviews with the social network went great, in his estimation. But Facebook turned him down. Two weeks later, Facebook released its 2016 report on diversity, which showed its workforce has changed little.
“To say there is not enough talent out there is like a slap in the face,” says JT, who did not want his full name used. “There are plenty of diverse people in my network alone who have the aptitude and the competitive edge and innovative mentality necessary to be successful at a tech company.”
JT’s story remains far too common throughout the tech industry, which has talked about diversity for the past two years but made little progress in hiring more underrepresented minorities. Silicon Valley earned praise and support in 2014 when several companies publicly committed themselves to building workforces that value equality and people from all walks of life. It was a milestone.
But many in the tech diversity community have since become exasperated. The most recent sources of frustration are Google’s and Facebook’s 2016 diversity reports. Both have failed to increase their representation of Hispanics and AfricanAmericans and have made only small gains when it comes to women.
“These guys are so innovative, and they’re constantly changing the world. Why can’t they change this?” asks Everette Taylor, a tech entrepreneur and a proponent of the tech diversity movement. “It baffles me.”
Google this year reported that its workforce is 3 percent Hispanic and 2 percent African-American — unchanged since the first report in 2014. Google did not respond to a request for comment.
Facebook reported that only 2 percent of its U.S. workforce is black and 4 percent Hispanic. When it comes to technical workers, the numbers are worse: 1 percent are black, 3 percent Hispanic. The numbers haven’t changed since the company’s first two diversity reports, released in 2014 and 2015.
“You rarely hear a major tech company cite a dearth of available talent when it comes to hiring for a hot new skill set, like virtual reality or robotics. They identify a need and do whatever it takes, including lucrative acquisitions and seven-figure compensation packages,” says Sarah Kunst, a proponent of the tech diversity movement and the founder of Proday, a fitness app. “Yet when it comes to diversity, a proven way to increase revenue and profitability, these companies don’t seem to be attacking the hiring gap with the same intensity.”
Comments made by Maxine Williams, Facebook’s global director of diversity, raised eyebrows. Some interpreted her words as putting the blame for Facebook’s lack of diverse hiring on a lack of talent — a pipeline problem, as tech companies like to say.
“It has become clear that at the most fundamental level, appropriate representation in technology or any other industry will depend upon more people having the opportunity to gain necessary skills through the public education system,” said Williams in the diversity report, released in July. A Facebook spokeswoman said Williams’ comments were not meant to be a negation of the diverse technical talent available today.
Williams said there is some progress: 9 percent of new senior leadership hires in the U.S. are black. About 27 percent of Facebook’s U.S. senior leadership are women; that number was 23 percent a year ago.
Williams’ comments came one week after the company put up a huge “Black Lives Matter” sign at its headquarters. “You can say that ‘Black Lives Matter,’ but not in terms of hiring them,” says Melinda Briana Epler, co-founder of Tech Inclusion. “To say that ‘There aren’t skilled people that we can hire,’ it makes me very angry, and it means that they’re not really trying very hard.”
To focus only on technical jobs also is to ignore a broader pattern. The tech industry’s deficit of women and minorities is present in all areas of their businesses, not only in engineering.
“Across the board, it’s bad. It’s not just engineering. There’s still other things that can be done, but they don’t want to be innovative,” says Angela Benton, CEO of NewME, an accelerator for entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups. “They’re being lazy about solving this problem.”
It’s often not enough for job candidates to have the right degree and a strong résumé. You must also hail from the correct school, have previously worked for a rival company and preferably already live in California, many say. “I had somebody tell me that unless you come from these certain schools or these certain four or five companies, you’re not going to get a job here,” says Taylor, recounting what one product manager at a major private tech company said to him. “They were saying it trying to be helpful.”
Those who work on diversity issues and the few minorities and women who are in the industry often feel discouraged.
“Sometimes I feel like maybe it’s a fluke that I even made it in, because my friends aren’t that different from me,” says Martina Abrahams, an African-American woman who works at a financial tech company in San Francisco and previously worked at Google.
Some also fear the numbers risk discouraging young women and people of color. “Why go get a degree in something if you’re not going to be able to get a job in it?” Epler asks.
“These guys are so innovative, and they’re constantly changing the world. Why can’t they change this? It baffles me.”