Dive Brief:
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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) met last week to discuss how to improve diversity in technology.
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EEOC’s analysis found that Silicon Valley still has a long way to go to achieve diversity. Among the top 75 Silicon Valley tech firms, whites made up 47% of the workforce, Asian Americans 41%, Hispanics 6% and African Americans 3%.
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Women accounted for just 30% of the workforce at the 75 firms, EEOC found.
Dive Insight:
Nationally the tech sector fared a bit differently. EEOC found that the national average for tech companies included a larger share of African Americans (14% to 7%) and Hispanics (14% to 8%).
Women did a bit better nationally, accounting for 36% of the tech workforce.
The EEOC is calling for stronger efforts to improve the diversity landscape both in Silicon Valley and nationally. "Expanding diversity and inclusion is critical to unlocking the full potential of tomorrow's economy," said EEOC chair Jenny Yang.
After releasing statistics showing a general lack of diversity among their workers, several tech companies, including Microsoft, Intel and HP, vowed to double their efforts at promoting more diverse workplaces.
Many believe that diverse teams are more successful than non-diverse teams, and that diversity and inclusion efforts are critical to solving the current IT labor shortage. A McKinsey Global Institute report recently estimated that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 just by advancing women's equality.
