Dive Brief:
- Pinterest double downed on its commitment to bring more women, African Americans and Latinos onboard after employees expressed concern about what they see as an intolerant Trump presidency, reports USA Today.
- USA Today said a status report Pinterest released last week showed the company met or surpassed some diversity hiring goals but fell short of others. Although women fared better than African Americans and Latinos, Pinterest lowered its hiring goal of women in engineering from 30% to 25% for 2017, which the company said was a less aggressive and therefore more achievable goal. However, the number of women in engineering, product design and product management rose from 21% to 26% in 2016. And nearly half, or 49%, of the company’s engineering interns were women.
- While Pinterest made some progress in hiring underrepresented minorities, they remain a small percentage of a staff dominated by whites and Asians. African Americans represent 2% in engineering, 2% in tech positions and 3% in business. Hispanics, who make up 4% of the staff, represent 3% in engineering, 2% in tech positions and 5% in business.
Dive Insight:
Attracting more people to tech companies goes beyond hiring; they should be exposed to various vocations within the industry. Internships provide the kind of exposure that raises interest in, and prepares workers for, tech jobs. Secondary schools, colleges and universities can assist this effort and, in turn, company recruiters by educating and training more students for jobs in the industry.
Private investors give Pinterest a value of $11 billion.
