Tech: Twitter reveals embarrassing news

Tropez

Quote:

Twitter acknowledged that it has been hiring too many white and Asian men to fill high-paying technology jobs, just like several other major companies in Silicon Valley.

The lack of diversity in Twitter's workforce of roughly 3,000 people was spelled out in data released Wednesday by the San Francisco company behind the popular short messaging service.

The breakdown revealed that 70 percent of Twitter's worldwide workforce is composed of men. In the U.S., nearly 90 percent of Twitter's workers are either white or Asian. Racial data wasn't provided for the global workforce.

Things look even worse when the numbers are boiled down to computer programming positions and other technology jobs that tend to pay the highest salaries. Just 10 percent of those jobs are held by women worldwide. More than 90 percent of Twitter's technology jobs in the U.S. are being handled by whites and Asians.

Twitter's scarcity of women, black and Latino workers mirrors similar situations at Google Inc., Facebook Inc., Yahoo Inc. and LinkedIn Corp.

All of those companies have released their diversity data since late May in response to a campaign spearheaded by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow PUSH coalition.

Jackson has spent much of this year pressuring major Silicon Valley companies to diversify their workforces because the booming technology industry is expected to be a major source of employment for years to come. Many of those jobs pay six-figure salaries and dole out stock options that can become worth millions of dollars.

In a Wednesday statement, Jackson lambasted Twitter's diversity numbers as "pathetic" but called the disclosure of the problem as a "step in the right direction."

Twitter Inc. vowed to change its ways.

"We are keenly aware that Twitter is part of an industry that is marked by dramatic imbalances in diversity," Janet Van Huysse, the company's vice president of diversity and inclusion, wrote in a blog post.

Like some other technology companies, Twitter is supporting programs that teach women how to program computers and introducing internal training programs aiming to weed out biases.

Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook told reporters earlier this month that the iPhone and iPad maker plans to release its diversity data, too. He didn't say when that information will be released.

Source

Twitter, along with other companies have been forced to released details on its staff to determine diversity. And as usual, women and other minorities are outnumbered by white males.

Reinvention

Get with it hunties.

stronger23

It's not their fault tho, white men & asians love technology , in my high school those were the ones interested in that boring ****.

Caesar

Quote:

Originally posted by stronger23

It's not their fault tho, white men & asians love technology , in my high school those were the ones interested in that boring ****.

.

KareBear

I think for the most part there is a lack of women, blacks, and Latinos who study computer programming due to many factors

Starships

In my programming class there's literally only one other female and 5 American guys. Everyone else is Asian.

Haus

Quote:

Originally posted by stronger23

It's not their fault tho, white men & asians love technology , in my high school those were the ones interested in that boring ****.

Exactly. There are simply not that many women into computers, and minorities are minorities

Bloomers

Quote:

Originally posted by KareBear

I think for the most part there is a lack of women, blacks, and Latinos who study computer programming due to many factors

Exactly. I mean the problem is that there is not enough minorities and women going into tech fields. and that is an issue that should be addressed.

Companies will always hire the best people with the most interest that are going to contribute. Personally, I always feel gross whenever I read something like what twitter report in the OP said, makes it seem like diversity is more tokenism and something to brag about than talent.

like2throw

well...if there were more minorities studying it in school, there would be more of em getting hired out of school...

Prometheus.

When I was in San Jose (in Silicon Valley) I noticed the racial ratio was mostly Asian, which is rare for California. Most areas are mostly Caucasian or Latin. It's been a trend for a while, though.

princedonte

This is what I need to get my degree in. So I can be surrounded by Asian men all day. That would be heaven on earth for me. And also to make a decent living too.

Starburst

What's embarrassing is the lack of women with STEM majors.

NewRihannaStan

Ehh. Well are they any women or blacks/Latinos applying for the positions ??

KyIe

I get that its skewed towards white and Asian males but what if they just happen to be the best qualified for these jobs. Just like affirmative action for college I don't get why its fair to give a one person a job over the other based on race or gender alone.

manwhore

Quote:

Originally posted by Haus

Exactly. There are simply not that many women into computers, and minorities are minorities

Can you elaborate the Minorities are minorities part. im listening.

Keon

Quote:

Originally posted by KyIe

I get that its skewed towards white and Asian males but what if they just happen to be the best qualified for these jobs. Just like affirmative action for college I don't get why its fair to give a one person a job over the other based on race or gender alone.

Clearly they aren't qualified enough - because Twitter's growth rate is weak and they are under huge pressure from investors to stop flopping.

Tropez

I continue to wonder why women and minorities are not pursuing these degrees considering that's where ther most job growth is.

Liberal arts majors aren't gonna do much i this world.

YouDaIcon

I'm black and I took ONE computer programming course and literally every tech firm this side of the hemisphere is trying to hire me

Deuces

I don't think it's embarrassing tbh. If Twitter isn't getting many women, black, latino applicants than it's not their fault. If their pool is composed of mostly asian or white men then that's who inevitably will work there. Now if twitter is/was turning down applicants due to race then we have an issue. But I don't think there's an issue with having too many asian or white employees.

Superbitch

Quote:

Originally posted by stronger23

It's not their fault tho, white men & asians love technology , in my high school those were the ones interested in that boring ****.

Yup, same and most women are not interested on it either. I'm not surprised at all.