Apple has followed suit with a spate of big tech companies and released a diversity report today, in the form of a micro-site with numbers breaking down the company’s U.S. race and ethnicity distribution, as well as its global gender split. The breakdown reveals a workforce that’s 70 percent male overall, with a whopping 80 percent of its tech employees (engineers, Geniuses and others involved in product creation) and 72 percent of its leadership team being men, while only a relatively few 65 percent of its non-tech (marketing, retail sales, etc.) employees are men by comparison.
In terms of race and ethnicity in the U.S., Apple has 55 percent white employees, with the next largest self-identifying group coming up as ‘Asian’ at 15 percent. Hispanic employees make up 11 percent, and everything else, including black employees and those who identify as multiracial, other or undeclared making up less than 10 percent each. In the U.S., white employees make up 56 percent of non-tech employees, 54 percent of tech team members, and a lopsided 64 percent of leadership roles.
Apple CEO Tim Cook penned a letter that accompanies the diversity report, and in it he says that Apple decided to publish the report because of its commitment to transparency. It’s probably no coincidence that this report follows those published by other tech leaders including eBay, Twitter and Facebook, however. eBay reported a surprising 42 percent female workforce, by comparison, and Facebook’s breakdown showed a 69 percent male and 57 percent white employee base, while Twitter matched Apple with 70 percent male employees, and slightly more white workers at 59 percent of the overall staff.
Cook also said that a key focus for him specifically has been inclusion and diversity, and he notes some recent executive team hires that have helped in that regard, including new retail chief Angela Ahrendts. Cook also added in some specific cases where Apple’s attention to diversity is illustrated, but for now at least, its numbers aren’t that dissimilar from other tech companies taking stock of their diversity picture.
Also included is a video about diversity at Apple that to my ears sounds like it’s narrated by the West Wing’s Allison Janney. You can check it out at the top of their new diversity page, but scroll down for the real meat involving statistics and Cook’s own thoughts.
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