Apple Workforce Diversity

Workforce diversity is a flaming topic in the contemporary American corporate scene. Recent census figures indicate that the cultural and ethnic composition of the US population is changing at unprecedented high rate. The demographic changes are well known in corporate America and as such some of the forward thinking organization began formulating workforce diversity strategies as early as the mid 1990’s. Nearly two decades later, workforce diversity is simply measured by the demographics of minorities and women retention, recruitment as well as supplier diversity.

Today, organizations have accepted that diversity in the workplace enhances employee motivation, customer diversity, employee innovation, consistency in quality enhancement and employee recruitment and retention. This paper seeks to discuss workplace diversity at Apple Inc., as highlighted in a web article titled Workplace diversity: Apple employs far more blacks, Hispanics than its tech rivals.

According to Love and May, Apple Inc., is Silicon Valley’s pearl with regard to efforts aimed at increasing workforce diversity. Apple boasts a workforce that is 18% black and Hispanic where as its main tech competitors Twitter and Google only reflect five percent of the same ethnic minorities’ employees (Love and May). Yahoo and Facebook only have about six percent of its employee being from the Hispanic and African American ethnic minorities (Love and May).

This presents interesting statistic as Apple is regarded as one of the companies operating in the Silicon Valley slowest to respond to the calls put across by diversity in the workforce advocates (Love and May). One of the first pundits calling for workplace diversity was the Mercury News which sought to have the big American tech companies offer full disclosure of workforce diversity. This began in 2008 though a large percentage of the tech giants resisted such disclosures. Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a similar organization under the stewardship of Reverend Jesse Jackson which also sought to have companies enhance on workforce diversity (Love and May).

The current CEO at Apple, Tim Cook believes that the company has to do more towards better workforce diversity (Love and May). So far, one can commend the company’s progress towards workforce diversity as it initially resisted such calls. The new CEO understands that workforce diversity plays an integral role in enabling innovations which is one of Apple’s core business operating objectives. Advocates of workplace diversity point out that their core objective towards improved workforce diversity is towards expanding the current marketplace for opportunity (Love and May). Therefore, companies should not perceive pro-workforce diversity advocates as geared towards so sort of cultural or ethnic purge.

Most of Apple’s employees working fulltime are in its numerous retail stores. Observers perceive this to be the source of above average diversity figures in the tech industry. However, the company has made senior appointments which have brought in women from different ethnic backgrounds. The company’s tech and non technical departments indicate that it has indeed made significant strides towards workforce diversity (Love and May). High profile appointments of women to senior positions are significant towards workforce diversity though the gender diversity at Apple is highly skewed in favor of men.

Tim Cook however comes out as a leader sensitive to the diverse nature of America’s cultural and ethnic heritage. The company is therefore on the right path towards incorporating diversity strategies which will ensure employees are recruited, trained and retained in line with the vision of workforce diversity advocates.

Work Cited

Love, Julia and May, Patrick. Workplace Diversity: Apple Employs Far More Blacks, Hispanics than Its Tech Rivals. San Jose Mercury News. 13 Aug. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_26325199/apple-releases-its-first-workplace-diversity-report?source=infinite>.