[A]pple is working to fuel future growth by diversifying its workforce with African-American students. The corporation, which employees 98,000 people worldwide, just dropped the largest investment ever given to four-year Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs).
Out of Apple’s 98,000 strong workforce, 55% is white, 15% is Asian, 11% is Hispanic and 9% are black. The low numbers for Apple are still better than rivals like Google (2%) and Yahoo (2%).. Break those numbers down into leadership roles for African-Americans at Apple in North America and the results are dismal. Just 3% of African-Americans working for Apple are in a position to lead. For tech, that number is slightly higher, at only 6%.
Break the numbers down into leadership roles for African-Americans at Apple in North America and the results are dismal. Just 3% of African-Americans working for Apple are in a position to lead. For tech, that number is slightly higher, at only 6%.
Apple reaped in record profits ($18 billion quarterly), thanks to records set by iPhone (74.5 million) and Mac sales. Interestingly, as a demographic, 71% of African-Americans own smartphones, while the number is less for everyone else, at 64%.
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And, industry analysts suspect the Apple Watch will move about 13 million units as well when it is released in April.
To change the inequality in its workforce, Apple has given the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) $40 million, to identify and develop talent from the nation’s four-year HBCUs. The huge donation comes on the heels of the company’s best quarterly results in the company’s history.
It is still early into 2015, yet has Apple reaped in record profits ($18 billion quarterly), thanks to records set by iPhone (74.5 million) and Mac sales, in addition to sales from the Beats By Dre line the company acquired in May of 2014 for $3 billion.
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| Denise Young Smith is Apple’s vice president of worldwide human resources. |
“I love my iPhone and couldn’t wait to get my first app up on the App Store. Graduating from college and going to work for Apple – the best company in the world – would be a dream come true,” said Tony Burrus, a senior at North Carolina A&T State University. “The commitment Apple is making to recruit students like me from HBCUs means the future for my graduating class just got even brighter and that’s what diversity should be about.”
The $40 million will be spent on exposing students to Apple’s campus, internships and the creation of a talent database Apple can draw from, in hopes of exposing more African-American students to the possibilities of careers in technology.
“Knowledge is the great equalizer and we want to invest in the best and brightest students in our HBCU schools to encourage them to pursue a career in technology or join the hundreds of thousands of app developers changing the way we all use our devices,” said Denise Young Smith, Apple’s vice president of worldwide human resources. “Together, we can change the workforce for the better because inclusion really does inspire innovation.”
“Working with the most innovative company on the planet, we’re going to expose more African-American students to the possibilities of a career in technology and inspire them to become future tech innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., TMCF President and CEO.
