Google Inc is planning to release statistics documenting the diversity of its workforce for the first time amid escalating pressure on the technology industry to hire more minorities and women.
The numbers are compiled as part of a report that major US employers must file with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. However, employers are not required to make the information publicly available.
Google Inc had resisted previous calls for it to share the diversity data.
Photo: Reuters
David Drummond, an African American executive who oversees Google’s public policies, announced the about-face on Wednesday during the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting at its headquarters in Mountain View.
“Many companies in [Silicon Valley] have been reluctant to divulge that data, including Google, and, quite frankly, we are wrong about that,” Drummond said.
He said the information will be released next month.
The concession came after the Reverend Jesse Jackson appeared at the annual meeting to urge Google to lead the effort to hire more African Americans, Latinos and women in technology. The longtime civil rights leader applauded Google for its transparency.
The company employs nearly 50,000 people and typically hires thousands more workers each year.
Other technology companies are also expanding their payrolls as demand for their devices and online services steadily increases, but Jackson and other critics contend the industry is not doing enough to ensure their workforces are as diverse as the rest of society.
About 7 percent of tech workers are black or Latino, both in Silicon Valley and nationally. Blacks and Hispanics make up 13.1 and 16.9 percent of the US population, respectively, according to the most recent census data.
Although lots of women work for tech companies, relatively few are in higher-paying technical or executive positions.
Drummond told Jackson that Google is committed to getting more minorities and women into top tech jobs.
“We are not doing enough and we can do a lot better,” he said.
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt also said the company plans to look for women and minority candidates when there is another opening on its board of directors. There are currently three women and a native of India on Google’s 10-member board.
GOOGLE GLASS
Separately, Google is once again selling its Internet-connected eyewear to anyone in the US as the company fine tunes a device that has sparked intrigue and disdain for its potential to change the way people interact with technology.
The latest release of Google Glass comes a month after a one-day sale gave US residents their first chance to buy the hottest accessory in geek fashion. Google is not setting a time limit for people to buy Glass this time, although the company is emphasizing that the product remains in its test, or “Explorer,” phase.
As has been the case since Google began selling Glass to a select group in 2012, the device costs US$1,500. It is only available on Google’s Web site for now.
The resumed sale of Google Glass is the latest indication that the company is nearing a mass-market release of the device.
Google is planning to release a more polished version of Glass by the end of this year that may sell for less than the price of the Explorer version.
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