Apple Leadership Remains Mostly White and Male, Shows Diversity Report

Apple continues to have workforce that is predominantly white and male despite the Cupertino-based company’s commitment to diversifying its employee strength. Compared to last year, minorities flatlined in Apple’s leadership and actually lost numbers among tech workers, according to a diversity report for this year released on Nov. 9.

The report came after the company hired Denise Young Smith, former head of Human Resources, as new Vice President to oversee the diversity at the workplace. The company didn’t do so well when it came to gender representation either. Women in its leadership ranks rose only slightly since last year and their numbers were the same among its tech workers. Overall, the proportion of women and minorities barely moved up.

In the report, the company noted: “Meaningful change takes time. We’re proud of our accomplishments, but we have much more work to do.”

Only 29 per cent of Apple leadership comprises females worldwide and the representation increased by one per cent last year. This was the only discernable change since 2014.

When it comes to ethnic diversity, Apple’s leadership ranks barely moved forward. Whites make 66 per cent of Apple leadership, which marks a fall of one per cent from last year. While the proportion of Asians in its leadership rose from 21 per cent to 23 per cent from last year, the percentage of blacks, Hispanics and multiracial people didn’t change at all.

A look at Apple’s leadership page is a good indicator of the company’s lack of representation at top — among the 19 senior executives on the page, five are women and just two are black.

Among Apple’s tech workforce, 52 per cent of employees are white and 77 per cent of them are male. The numbers were at 55 per cent white and 77 per cent male last year. The underrepresented minorities — blacks, Hispanics, and multiracial people — declined from 18 per cent to 17 per cent in the last year.

That being said, half of the people Apple hired between July 2016 and July 2017 are women, blacks, Native American, native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Hispanics, according to the report.

The proportion of workers under 30 who are women or members of underrepresented minority groups was higher than the company’s overall average for such groups, the report added.

“Diversity is our future. Apple is a multi-generational company with employees from 18 to 85. As Apple continues to grow, we’re highly encouraged that our employees under 30 reflect an increasing diversity,” the company said.

The i-Phone maker has 130,000 employees worldwide and 83,000 in the United States.