New Study: Tech Is Not Getting More Diverse; Employees Tired of Diversity Initiatives

The numbers are in and they’re not looking good for people of color who are trying to get in the door of major tech companies. Bloomberg recently reported that among the 8 large tech firms, black employees working in technical roles have risen less than 1 percent since 2014. Here are some other troubling details regarding people of color in tech:

At Facebook, the number of black employees in its U.S. workforce is 3%; up from 2% in 2014. However, black workers in actual tech roles at Facebook is stagnant at 1%. At Google, only 2% of their U.S. workforce is black, and that figure has been the same for the past 3 years. When you take the 8 largest tech firms in the U.S., blacks make up 7 percent of the total high-tech workforce, and only 3 percent of the workforce in Silicone Valley. Here are the Top 6 Disturbing trends regarding blacks in tech in the U.S:

1. Little has changed since the last tech reports in 2014

Only 1-2 percent of workers at the largest tech firms in America are black.

2. Being a minority at a major tech firm can feel isolating

‘Hiring minorities is hard, and Facebook is doing the best it can. We’re on the journey, in the struggle; We know the data on how being a minority affects your ability or willingness to show up. It can be isolating. What I have learned is there’s no one silver bullet. All I know how to do is have this comprehensive suite to meet people where they are.” – Maxine Williams, Facebook’s Global Head of Diversity

3. Once Blacks get into the door of major tech firms, often things don’t get any easier

An anonymous Facebook employee stated things felt “very lonely” at his office. This employee also stated that Maxine William’s “comprehensive suite” resources hasn’t helped find him any mentors that could help hime grow within the company. He belongs to a black resource group, but is still feeling uncomfortable fitting in.

4. Tech workers are not motivated by making their companies more diverse

An Atlassian survey calls this “diversity fatigue” and tech workers don’t believe that they need to make their environments more diverse. Of the 1500 respondents in the Atlassian survery, many workers responded its the governments job to increase diversity, not their company’s job.

5. Culture within Tech companies isn’t changing at a rapid pace

“Culture doesn’t change rapidly, you can improve the metric, but I think you would still have a broader cultural issue in the company that wouldn’t be solved.” – anonymous Facebook employee.

6. Maxine Waters has threatened the Tech industry with regulation if they’re not willing to launch initiatives to better diversification

“I’m not about diplomacy,’’ said Waters, threatening regulation. “I’m not urging, I’m not encouraging. I’m about to hit some people across the head with a hammer. I know how to do this and I know how to do it well.’’ – Maxine Waters, Bloomberg.com

Source: Bloomberg