RACISM: Google to hire more blacks at senior level

In an attempt to fight racism, Alphabet Inc.’s Google has said that it will attempt to hire more black workers in senior roles.

In addition, the company said it will set a goal of filling at least 30% of leadership positions with employees from underrepresented groups by 2025.

This comes in response to the outcry against systematic racism, a movement which was heightened by the violent killing of Africam American, George Floyd, by a Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin.

According to reports, Black workers and other people of colour have long pointed out the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley companies like Google, Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc.

Protests against Floyd's killing could be credited for Google's move to include more blacks at top-level positions.

The search giant also said it would hire more people in Atlanta, Washington, Chicago and London, add more support for its Black workers and establish internal anti-racism programs for all employees, according to a Wednesday blog post.

The percentage of Black employees at Google grew to just 3.7% in 2020 from 2.4% in 2014, according to the company’s annual diversity report.

In addition to the internal changes, Google announced a $175 million “economic opportunity package” that will be spent on investments in Black-led venture capital firms and startups, training for Black job seekers and grants for small businesses.

The new workforce diversity commitments come at the same time as Google has said it will slow overall hiring in most parts of its business as it deals with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: Bloomberg