◼ TECHNOLOGY Bloomberg Businessweek August 10, 202015ILLUSTRATION BY JORDAN MOSS
stafferstolookattheIDbadgesofpassersbytomake
suretheymatchthepeople’sfaces,ledtodiscrimi-
nationagainstBlackandLatinxworkers.Employees
whosaidBlackandLatinxworkersweresubjectto
disproportionatelyfrequentcheckscomplainedto
CEOSundarPichai,whocommittedtoendingthe
practice.“Itseemssmall,butovertimeit makesyou
feellikeyoudon’tbelong,”saysoneBlackemployee
intheBayArea,whospokeonconditionofanonym-
ityforfearofretribution.It’sa signalthat“thisspace
wasn’tbuiltandisn’tintendedforus.”
BlackGooglerswhospeakoutarecriticized
evenasthecompanyholdsthemupasexamples
ofitscommitmenttodiversity,accordingtoTimnit
Gebru,a Googleresearcherwhouncoveredhow
somefacial-recognitionprogramsmischaracter-
izedarker-skinnedwomen.Shesaysco-workers
and managers have tried to police her tone, make
excuses for harassing or racist behavior, or ignore
her concerns. When Google was considering hav-
ing Gebru manage another employee, she says, her
outspokenness on diversity issues was held against
her, and concerns were raised about whether
she could manage others if she was so unhappy.
“People don’t know the extent of the issues that
exist because you can’t talk about them, and the
moment you do, you’re the problem,” she says.Googlesaysit beganpayingcloserattentionto
attritionratesin2018,whenit sawBlackandLatinx
workersleavingthecompanyatfaster-than-average
rates. The company says its response efforts
included hiring case managers to focus on trying
to retain the employees. “Only a holistic approach
to diversity will produce meaningful, sustainable
change,” the company said in a statement.
The focus on diverse hiring has overshadowed
failures to retain new Black and Latinx employ-
ees, pay them equally, and promote them. Tech
companies’ leaky bucket syndrome makes it look
as if their overall workforce diversification efforts
are stagnant. That discourages other diverse hires
from seeking similar jobs and creates a difficult
cycle to break, according to Charlene Delapena,
a former recruiter at Quora who now works for
another startup and also runs URx Inc., a talent
development organization.
Quora says no Black students rejected job offers
during last fall’s recruiting season. “It is import-
ant to our mission and also to me personally that
we provide an environment where people from all
kinds of backgrounds can do their best work,” CEO
Adam D’Angelo said in a statement.
The push to diversify tech’s ranks can be traced
to the 2013 disclosure by former Pinterest Inc.“Leadership
can talk about
diversity
all day long,
but if the
managers and
people who
implement it
don’t buy in,
it’s not going
to happen”