FOLLOWING IN THE footsteps of so many others, Silicon Valley darling Slack, which makes a much-loved chat app for businesses, released its first diversity report today. Also following in the footsteps of so many others in tech, the results aren?t good: A vast majority of Slack?s employees?70 percent?are white. And 61 percent of the company is male.
Still, you have to give Slack some credit. The company at least appears to be trying, and trying from the start instead of waiting years or decades into its existence to recognize that diversity is a serious issue. ?It?s relatively easy for us to move the lever a small bit right now to make a significant change in our trajectory,? said Anne Toth, vice-president of people and policy, and Stewart Butterfield, Slack?s CEO, in a blog post describing the company?s diversity efforts. ?If us doing this sooner rather than later yields a better result that alone will be a good thing for us to have done at Slack and, hopefully, for the industry at large.?
Slack says it made the issue of diversity a priority while the company was still in its infancy, hiring an outside diversity consultant back when it employed only 75 people. It also says it?s begun examining its compensation data to make sure pay gaps don?t exist among its male and female workers. And it is making a concerted effort to be vigilant in its data collection and analysis to make real-time adjustments when recruiting new employees or updating its workplace policies.
Read more at?WIRED
