Intel released its second Diversity and Inclusion report on Wednesday. The report has some hard stats about the progress the chip maker has made to diversify its workforce, and the good news is that the company was able to surpass its goal.
Intel ups female hiring
Intel aimed at having 40% of its 2015 hires be either women or minorities, and in reality, 43% of its hires belonged to these diverse groups. Of the new hires made in 2015, 11.8% were underrepresented minorities. More good news is that the chip maker increased hiring of women by nearly 43% with 1,700 women being brought on board.
Intel said women are paid fairly and reported pay parity for men and women at 100%. Intel’s chief diversity officer, Danielle Brown, said in an accompanying letter that the company is firm in its belief that “diversity and inclusion are key to Intel’s evolution and driving forces for our continued relevancy and growth as a company.”
Intel has never tried to hide its diversity ambitions. At CES this year, it announced a partnership with Vox Media to battle online harassment and said it plans to invest $300 million on diversifying its workforce in the next five years. The chip maker aims at reaching 45% diverse hiring in the U.S., of which 14% will be underrepresented minorities.
Intel also aims to retain new hires, something that has been a major challenge for the company. The attrition rate among black workers is higher than that of their colleagues, and chip maker is not able to explain the reason for it. But this has not diverted the company from its diversity goals and initiative.
A lot remains to be done
Though the chip maker has made good gains, a lot remains to be done even now. Intel’s workforce is comprised of less than 25% women, and in technical roles, the female percentage is only 25%. However, on the non-technical side, they have women in 50% of the roles. White employees make up 53% of the workforce, while just 3.5% employees are black.
Also Intel is behind other tech companies in several ways. Twenty-four percent of the company’s employees are female, while at Facebook, 32% are female. At Apple, 31% of its employees are females, and it also has higher rates of racial diversity. Blacks make up 8% of Apple’s workforce, while at Intel the minority group makes up just over 3% of the workforce.
