Facebook Releases New Data About Staff Diversity

By Sameer Rao Jul 01, 2015

Although none of the statistics from last week’s Diversity Report have officially changed, Facebook recently updated it with a link to its 2014 Equal Employment Opportunity filing, which can be read here. According to the filing, the company did better in 2014 than the previous year in hiring underrepresented peoples, with 36 new African-American employees (half of whom are women) and 73 new Latino employees (24 of whom are women). 

Besides the increase in black and brown hires (which has not altered the demographic percentages in any significant way, given the predominant whiteness and maleness of Silicon Valley), the report details several steps that the company is taking to ensure future diversity. In addition to adopting a “diverse slate approach” to hiring, which ensures that at least one candidate of color will be considered for every position in certain test sectors (no data on the efficacy of this program is available at this time), the company is also working with numerous undergraduates of color in their Facebook University summer training program. Additionally, Facebook posted about a Management Biases training course in which managers are allegedly taught to interrogate the sources behind their own unconscious biases and how they can affect the workplace environment. They also launched a Computer Science & Engineering Lean In Circles program to foster support networks among computer science students as they enter the tech world, with an emphasis on women. 

While the long-term impact or standardization of these and other programs remains to be seen—the company does not presently have much publically-available data on these programs—Facebook maintains that the company is pledging its commitment to the diversification of its ranks. Top brass hired Chief Diversity Officer Maxine Williams in 2013. 

Click here to read Facebook’s Diversity Report.