Yahoo Releases Diversity Numbers - 50% White, 39% Asian, 4% Latino, 2% Black
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Posted By: Will Moss on June 24, 2014 FEATURED Content Well, Yahoo.com recently decided to release their workforce statistics on employee demographics similar to rival Google's move a few weeks ago... So the numbers are in and they are disappointing, yet not surprising. Not so much a knock against their leadership personally, but the results show a lack of diversity with respect to their customer base and the communities they serve. They seem to be doing a great job of attracting and retaining Asians at 39%. One would guess that to be because of where they are geographically located or because Asians index high in the STEM fields, but they are doing a terrible job hiring and or retaining African Americans and Latinos. The numbers are really sad. I think many people would throw up their hands and say the reason is simply because there are not enough Blacks and Latinos for them to hire for the positions they offer. Could be the case at the current moment, but what we should be asking is just as simple: What are you doing to create a talent pipeline to attract more diverse candidates into the STEM fields? How often do you look to recruit minorities from MSI's? Do you know what an MSI is? Do you know what an HBCU is? I have never seen Yahoo at any Black national career fairs hiring for anything. So if they were to say that there are not enough blacks out there to help further diversify their ranks, I'd call that an excuse until we start to see them CONSISTENTLY investing in recruiting more African American and Latino candidates at HBCUs and MSIs and national career fairs, and on websites where there are talented professionals that are qualified to run things at Yahoo. So let's see, who had more black employees? Yahoo or Google? Well they both claim 2% blacks, but I believe Google had more blacks in senior leadership (1) *lol*. I guess I'll set Google as my new start page for search... Or better yet, Microsoft has a search tool called BING, and while I am not sure what percentage of their workforce is African American, I know that their efforts to recruit and retain African Americans is much more visible and robust than Google's or Yahoo's. Bing it is... If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Will Moss
Founder & CEO, HBCU CONNECT, LLC Hampton University class of 1995 Member Since June 1999 |
Comments
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This article along with others like it are ridiculous. Creating a race based pipelines to tech companies implies that black and Latinos are not smart enough to know how to apply to these companies. Although the numbers are disappointing, they reflect the reality of the world. Blacks and Latinos do not embrace being the creators of technology at the same rate as Whites and Asians. That is a fact. No amount of career fair "pipelines" will change that. These companies only care about getting the best and the brightest. The best and brightest Black and Latino tech workers are already working for Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Yahoo. There is no need to create special programs that would put people in situations where they won't be able to compete. If you want to change the reality, HBCUs need to encourage their students to embrace STEM. Students need to stop running away from math in favor to getting out of school quicker with a softer major. And if you are wondering, I am a HBCU grad and a software engineer.
Wednesday, June 25th 2014 at 2:11PM |
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Thanks for your comment A P. I am also an HBCU grad and software engineer. If you went to an HBCU then you likely never saw Yahoo, Google, or Facebook or many of the other tech companies on your campus. I also went to an HBCU and went to work for a tech company that had a pipeline program to hire the best and brightest students out of HBCUs and we COULD COMPETE. What you are saying is that these companies should not try to be more inclusive and continue their current recruitment practices that yield their current results? Sure blacks are not as prone to get into technology fields but that has nothing to do with them being black and more to do with what they are exposed to! How did you get into technology? I hear the same story over and over from blacks that do choose to go into tech fields and it all has to do with EXPOSURE. Also how they end up working for tech companies is usually due to exposure as well.
Wednesday, June 25th 2014 at 2:23PM |
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I understand. I don't think these programs are needed at the adult level, but they would work wonders at elementary and high school levels.
Wednesday, June 25th 2014 at 3:09PM |
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There are events and career fairs, and websites that attract minorities in the thousands. Some companies choose to take advantage and end up finding great candidates and hiring those folks. If not for these pipelines, some of the minority candidates and hiring companies may not have had the opportunity to connect... Not sure how we responsibly say that it's not needed when this is how many African Americans are getting hired and how many top companies are finding them... Though I respect you and your opinion, I hope I am making sense.
Wednesday, June 25th 2014 at 3:51PM |
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