LinkedIn’s workforce dominated by Asian and white men
Almost 60% of U.S. employees at LinkedIn are white or Asian men, including about 70% of the executive ranks, reflecting the broader lack of women and minorities working in the technology industry.
“Over the past few years, we’ve experienced tremendous growth and have become a truly global company, but in terms of overall diversity, we have some work to do,” Pat Wadors, the company’s vice president of global talent, said in a statement Thursday.
LinkedIn’s public disclosure about the diversity of its workforce, which came about two weeks after a similar release by Google, showed both companies’ U.S. workforces are 91% Asian or white. About 39% of workers of the 5,300 worldwide at LinkedIn are women, compared to 30% on Google’s staff of nearly 50,000.
LinkedIn, an online social network that helps workers and companies connect, makes more than half of its money from a service that recruiters use to find job candidates. The company reported revenue of $473 million in the first quarter of 2014, and about 300 million people have created profiles. Twitter, by comparison, lists 255 million monthly active users.
LinkedIn and Google said they were partnering with organizations to get more minority hires. LinkedIn touted its association with Year Up, a training program for young adults in low-income areas, and the Anita Borg Institute, which promotes programs to get woman involved in building technology.
“True inclusion is something that can only be achieved through a workforce that reflects the rich diversity of our member base, and this is something we strive to do in all of our hiring efforts,” Wadors said, noting that releasing the demographic data would hold the company accountable.
The company did not immediately respond to a request to share gender and race data about its users or to say whether its recruiting product might be updated to assist tech companies looking to boost minority hiring. Among the diversity tips LinkedIn offers recruiters using its Talent Solutions product is to filter for candidates who list historically black colleges or college sororities in their profiles.
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