Diversity within organizations has become one of the most talked about issues in recent years. As the labor market has become increasingly more competitive, organizations are scrambling to figure out ways to attract qualified candidates and keep them happy. Some companies have figured it out; they have either successfully implemented diversity and inclusion policies and procedures, or they are working on them. But because of an overwhelming amount of pressure from the public to diversify staff and now 47% of millennials seeking diversified organizations, inhospitable industries and/or specific organizations are being directly called out (Ioannou, 2018). The Silicon Valley is one of them. You may or may not be familiar with the Silicon Valley, but you are more than likely familiar with Facebook, Google, Apple, and Visa. This is the hub, positioned south of the Bay Area, that homes some of the world’s most important operations; where thousands of people are hard at work coding, designing, and developing. With diversity becoming as popular as it is, consumers are now speaking up about their concerns creating a need for big tech companies to address their issues.
So, what exactly does Silicon Valley look like? Let me paint the picture for you. According to Rangarajan (2018), in the year 2016, not a single black woman was employed by one of the ten largest tech companies in Silicon Valley. In the same annual report, of 177 tech companies in Silicon Valley, only 14.6% of executives were women while 58.7% were white men (Rangarajan, 2018). In May of 2018, a study revealed at companies such as Uber, Twitter, Google, and Facebook, fewer than 3% of tech employees identify as black (Ioannou, 2018). As of this year, 39.8% of employees at Google are Asian, and over 40% at Facebook and Pinterest (Dickey, 2019). In addition, only 7% of employees are Latino at Netflix and only 4.9% at Facebook (Dickey, 2019). In conclusion, Silicon Valley is overwhelmingly white and Asian.
The importance of diversity for Silicon Valley is easy to explain. There are a couple reasons why big tech companies should pursue diversity concerns. First, as mentioned before, millennials are in search of employers that have an inclusive environment. The millennial generation has been entering the workforce for years and now makes up almost 60% of the labor force (Fry, 2018). This is a big and a tough crowd to please. Second, millennials represent the largest group of individuals to consume technology, making them the largest represented group of customers for companies in the Silicon Valley. According to Vogels (2019), 93% of millennials own smartphones and 86% use social media. Due to millennials being the most culturally and racially diverse generation to date, supporting companies that are inclusive and seemingly fair is a huge driving factor for consumption of products and services (Dickey, 2019). The third and most obvious reason why big tech companies in Silicon Valley should pursue diversity is the competitive advantage that individual perspectives, varying backgrounds, and different experiences offer the organization.
Looking forward, the Silicon Valley has a lot of work to do. Many companies, such as Google, are working on diversifying their staff, but numbers are moving at a glacial speed (Dickey, 2019). Tech companies report that hiring diverse talent is a difficult task but others argue that shifting diversity issues will no longer be acceptable and big companies need to take responsibility for their poorly represented staff. I especially look forward to seeing the results of diversity and inclusion efforts. As a millennial, I value inclusion as it has been one of the most important issues of my lifetime; politically, socially, and economically. If Silicon Valley does not take the necessary steps to create a more hospitable industry, I would not be surprised to see a decline in business in the years to come.
References:
Dickey, M. (2019). The future of diversity and inclusion in tech. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/17/the-future-of-diversity-and-inclusion-in-tech/
Fry, R. (2018). Millennials are the largest generation in the U.S. labor force. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/11/millennials-largest-generation-us-labor-force/
Ioannou, L. (2018). Silicon Valley’s Achilles’ heel threatens to topple its supremacy in innovation. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/20/silicon-valleys-diversity-problem-is-its-achilles-heel.html
Rangarajan, S. (2018). Here’s the clearest picture of Silicon Valley’s diversity yet: It’s bad. Retrieved from https://www.revealnews.org/article/heres-the-clearest-picture-of-silicon-valleys-diversity-yet/
Vogels, E. (2019). Millennials stand out for their technology use, but older generations embrace digital life. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/09/us-generations-technology-use/
Yanin Cancio says
Hi Madeline,
I appreciate the topic you chose for your blog post. I previously assumed that organization in Silicon Valley has diverse workforces due to their forward-thinking attitudes. Something that could encourage more diverse applicants is a mentorship program where women and men from a diverse background can be mentored and possibly join the organizations. Attending career fairs at colleges with diversified campuses in the hope of recruiting diverse talent can also assist in boosting diversity. What are some other techniques you can think of to make a change in this arena?
Tina Cermignano says
Hi Madeline,
I was interested in your post because of the challenges that some industries state exist due to challenges with a lack of qualified candidates and the tech industry is a great example of these challenges. In the tech industry it is a real problem because STEM (Science, technology, engineering, Math)programs are not strongly promoted or readily available in many public schools. This is an area where tech companies could benefit the greater good by promoting the curriculum and assisting to encourage studies in these fields in order to create a future diverse workforce. Facebook “has started an engineer –in-residence program in historically black and Hispanic colleges” but this is at the college level and there needs to be more opportunities to introduce the skills during Junior and High School (Rangarajan, 2018). Unfortunately if we do not fix the disparity at the primary school level to give students access to the education to be better prepared to be a viable candidate in tech organizations this problem will continue.
References
Rangarajan, S. June 2018. Here’s The Clearest Picture of Silicon Valley Diversity Yet: It’s Bad. But Some Companies Are Doing Less Bad. Riveal. Retrieved from https://www.revealnews.org/article/heres-the-clearest-picture-of-silicon-valleys-diversity-yet/