Google is a company that prides itself on innovation, work flexibility, strong applicants, and an environment that breeds innovation. However, it seems that one thing is lacking in the search company is gender and ethnic diversity.
The company released data on its workforce demographics that show interesting trends in its hiring process. Males account for 70 percent of the employees and two ethnicities dominate the company's landscape: white individuals, who represent 61 percent of the workforce, and Asians, who represent another 30 percent of the workforce.
"We believe in removing barriers so Googlers can focus on the things and people they love, and that it's important to provide benefits that serve the unique needs of our Googlers," the company says on its diversity data page. "Some of our most talked-about benefits include our caregiver leave program and our LGBT policies."
It is good to see Google embrace the Bay Area's open relationship trends for LGTB and programs for employees to engage in related to their background (as well as ways to meet others with different backgrounds). It has employee resource groups for women in engineering, veterans, older workers, Hispanics, blacks and Filipinos, among others. However, the company's own workforce is skewed with particular employee makeups, as the data shows.
Google acknowledges that it's good for its diverse audience, the company and its employees to have employees work with many different minds from different backgrounds. "Research shows that when we are more aware of our unconscious bias, we can make more objective decisions. In 2013, more than 20,000 Googlers (nearly half of our Googlers) engaged in workshops that focus on the science of how the brain works," Google says.
While it's good the company has started the doversity conversation, it needs to find ways to recruit people worldwide to truly be diverse. It may not be easy for Google and other tech companies because particular majors, regions, and other factors can influence who is in the available workforce.
The numbers are really low on nonwhite ethnicities, for instance, and this could be something an outreach program can address -- for instance, hire interns internationally and then offer them positions if they qualify, and offer universities across the countries greater access to Google to expand the diversity pool.
The leadership figures are even more biased toward white individuals (72 percent), with males being primarily in charge (79 percent). Google should look for new ways of giving lower-rank employees from different backgrounds a chance to fill roles as they progress. That is if it truly prides itself on being very diverse.
