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Although Facebook has shown slight improvement in its goals to diversify its workforce, the social media giant admitted it had a long way to go, according to its sixth annual diversity report released Tuesday (July 16).
"Since 2014, when our strategic efforts began, we've made some progress increasing the number of people from traditionally underrepresented groups employed at Facebook but we recognize that we need to do more," the report says.
"Since 2014, when our strategic efforts began, we've made some progress increasing the number of people from traditionally underrepresented groups employed at Facebook but we recognize that we need to do more," the report says.
Asian Americans in senior management improved from 21.6% in 2018 to 24.9%, a vast improvement since diversity statistics have been gathered for the social media company in 2014 when Asian Americans made up only 19% of its leadership team.
However, looking at the overall US workforce where Asian Americans make up 43% of workers they are still underrepresented in leadership roles when you take into account that the total Asian workforce in the US actually increased from 35% to 44% from 2014 to 2019.
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| SCREEN CAPTURE / BLOOMBERG NEWS |
In general, the high-tech industry has come under criticism for its lack of diversity in its workforce and the perceived bamboo ceiling hampering Asian American advancement. As a result, some companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo have begun programs to increase the diversity of its employees with varying degrees of success.
The situation with Asian Americans slow move into the board rooms at Facebook is an industry-wide problem. There is a perception that Asian Americans - men and women - lack the leadership qualities to be effective managers.
The situation with Asian Americans slow move into the board rooms at Facebook is an industry-wide problem. There is a perception that Asian Americans - men and women - lack the leadership qualities to be effective managers.
It's difficult to gauge the progress made without the actual number of positions Facebook is talking about considering the company has experienced tremendous growth in five years.
The report reveals that the company, globally, is 63.1 percent male and 36.9 percent female, only slightly changed from the 63.7 percent male and 36.3 percent female workforce that it reported last year. In technical roles, that changes to 77 percent male and 23 percent female, whereas last year, it was 78.4 percent and 21.6 percent. Among senior leadership, it's 67.4 percent male, down from 70 percent last year.
As for ethnicity data, Facebook only breaks out its stats for the US. Facebook says, its US workforce is 44.2 percent white, 43 percent Asian, 5.2 percent Hispanic, and 3.8 percent Black, with 3.1 percent of its employees reporting being from two or more backgrounds, and 0.7 percent marked down as "other."
The report reveals that the company, globally, is 63.1 percent male and 36.9 percent female, only slightly changed from the 63.7 percent male and 36.3 percent female workforce that it reported last year. In technical roles, that changes to 77 percent male and 23 percent female, whereas last year, it was 78.4 percent and 21.6 percent. Among senior leadership, it's 67.4 percent male, down from 70 percent last year.
As for ethnicity data, Facebook only breaks out its stats for the US. Facebook says, its US workforce is 44.2 percent white, 43 percent Asian, 5.2 percent Hispanic, and 3.8 percent Black, with 3.1 percent of its employees reporting being from two or more backgrounds, and 0.7 percent marked down as "other."
By comparison, last year, Facebook said that its US workforce was 46.6 percent white, 41.4 percent Asian, 4.9 percent Hispanic, and 3.5 percent Black, with 3 percent reporting two or more, and 0.6 percent reporting as "other."
"Since 2014, when our strategic efforts began, we've made some progress increasing the number of people from traditionally underrepresented groups employed at Facebook but we recognize that we need to do more," Facebook says in its report.
The report reveals that the company, globally, is 63.1 percent male and 36.9 percent female, only slightly changed from the 63.7 percent male and 36.3 percent female workforce that it reported last year. In technical roles, that changes to 77 percent male and 23 percent female, whereas last year, it was 78.4 percent and 21.6 percent. Among senior leadership, it's 67.4 percent male, down from 70 percent last year.
As for ethnicity data, Facebook only breaks out its stats for the US. Across its American operations, Facebook says, its workforce is 44.2 percent white, 43 percent Asian, 5.2 percent Hispanic, and 3.8 percent Black, with 3.1 percent of its employees reporting being from two or more backgrounds, and 0.7 percent marked down as "other."
By comparison, last year, Facebook said that its US workforce was 46.6 percent white, 41.4 percent Asian, 4.9 percent Hispanic, and 3.5 percent Black, with 3 percent reporting two or more, and 0.6 percent reporting as "other."
A majority of the Asian Americans employeed by Facebook are concentrated in the technical fields where they make up over 51% of the workforce. They are least represented in marketing and business operations where they compose 24.7% of the workforce.
Despite these relatively small changes, Facebook touts that it's been moving in the right direction, with more women and people from underrepresented groups joining its technical organizations, and more women joining the ranks of leadership by being promoted from within.
"Today, there are more people of diverse backgrounds and experiences, more people of color, more women in both technical and business roles, and more underrepresented people in leadership here," wrote Maxine Williams, Facebook's Global Diversity Officer in a blog.
"Most notably, we’ve achieved higher representation of women in leadership by focusing on hiring and growing female leaders within the company. Over the last several years, the majority of new female leaders were internally promoted. Also, since 2014, we have increased the number of Black women at Facebook by 25X and the number of Black men by 10X. And importantly, even as we have grown, we have worked very hard on making Facebook a more welcoming, respectful workplace."
"We envision a company where in the next five years, at least 50% of our workforce will be women, people who are Black, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islanders, people with two or more ethnicities, people with disabilities, and veterans," continued Williams in her blog. "In doing this, we aim to double our number of women globally and Black and Hispanic employees in the US. It will be a company that reflects and better serves the people on our platforms, services and products. It will be a more welcoming community advancing our mission and living up to the responsibility that comes with it."
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| Asian Americans make up 43% of Facebook's US workforce. |
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| Asian Americans make up almost 25% of Facebook's American senior management team. |
Despite these relatively small changes, Facebook touts that it's been moving in the right direction, with more women and people from underrepresented groups joining its technical organizations, and more women joining the ranks of leadership by being promoted from within.
"Today, there are more people of diverse backgrounds and experiences, more people of color, more women in both technical and business roles, and more underrepresented people in leadership here," wrote Maxine Williams, Facebook's Global Diversity Officer in a blog.
"Most notably, we’ve achieved higher representation of women in leadership by focusing on hiring and growing female leaders within the company. Over the last several years, the majority of new female leaders were internally promoted. Also, since 2014, we have increased the number of Black women at Facebook by 25X and the number of Black men by 10X. And importantly, even as we have grown, we have worked very hard on making Facebook a more welcoming, respectful workplace."
Recognizing the difficulties in having its workforce more representative of the US, Facebook has nevertheless set lofty goals for itself.
"We envision a company where in the next five years, at least 50% of our workforce will be women, people who are Black, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islanders, people with two or more ethnicities, people with disabilities, and veterans," continued Williams in her blog. "In doing this, we aim to double our number of women globally and Black and Hispanic employees in the US. It will be a company that reflects and better serves the people on our platforms, services and products. It will be a more welcoming community advancing our mission and living up to the responsibility that comes with it."
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