Dropbox today released its latest diversity report, showing a slight increase in overall representation of underrepresented minorities at the company. Dropbox is now 3% black, up from 2% black last year, and 6% Latino, up from 5% last year. Regarding senior leadership roles, Dropbox increased the percentage of women in those roles from 21% last year to 27%.
As you can see above, Dropbox increased its hiring of all minority groups, making up 45% of all new hires in 2016 compared to just 41% last year.
“Though we’ve made progress in hiring minorities this year, the numbers aren’t where we want them to be,” Dropbox VP of People Arden Hoffman wrote on the company blog.
It’s going to take a drastic overhaul (firing everyone and starting from scratch) of any company’s workforce in order to make a dent in the overall representation of people of color, LGBTQIA people and people with disabilities. Since that probably won’t happen, it’s important that tech companies continue to release these reports because, in an industry where data is King/Queen/Ruler, numbers and accountability matter.
It’s also important that companies implement programs to foster inclusive, supportive environments for underrepresented people in tech. At this point, Dropbox and many other tech companies are doing this. Dropbox, for example, is one of the many companies that has committed to an equal pay policy and has partnered with non-profit organizations like CODE2040 to hook up students of color with internships.
It’s been said before, but probably bears repeating: there’s no point in filling up a leaky bucket in which a pipeline of talented people join a company only to leave due to a toxic workplace.