Uber released its first diversity report yesterday (March 28) showing that the company’s makeup, excluding drivers, is White male-dominated.
In the United States, the team is 67.1 percent male and 49.8 percent White. Asians comprise 30.9 percent of the company, with Black employees at 8.8 percent. The company is only 5.6 percent Latinx.
The leadership numbers are even less balanced: 78 percent of directors (or anyone above) are male, and 76.7 percent White.
On that detail, the report states:
Our leadership is more homogenous than the rest of our employees. For example, no Black or Hispanic employees hold leadership positions in tech. This clearly has to change—a diversity of backgrounds and experience is important at every level. This is especially important in leadership, because leaders have a disproportionate influence on the culture of teams. And research shows that leaders from diverse backgrounds are more likely to hire diverse teams themselves.
This makeup is a vast difference to the drivers who ultimately make the business run. An independent report from 2014, the last time these numbers were compiled, looked at drivers in several cities, including Atlanta, Dallas, Miami and San Diego. That report found 55 percent of drivers are people of color. This broke down to 18 percent Black, 15 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, 16 percent Latinx and 6 percent other. Where driver demographics do align with the overall company’s is gender: 86 percent are male.
Yesterday’s report, however, comes in the midst of multiple public relations disasters for the ride-hailing company, including complaints from employees about office culture and the CEO’s involvement in President Donald Trump’s business advisory council.
“We have to build more trust with our employees, and transparency will build that trust,” said Chief Human Resources Officer Liane Hornsey of the report, in an interview with The New York Times.
An independent investigation is ongoing at the company to examine workplace culture. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is on the investigative team.