Apple fixes its gender pay gap, makes small diversity gains
The company's latest Diversity Report shows things are getting better... slowly.
Gender and ethnic diversity remain one of the tech industry's biggest problems, but this year more big companies are actually shaping up. In its latest Diversity Report, Apple announced today that it's fully erased the gender pay gap among men and women in the U.S. "for similar roles and performance." While a noteworthy accomplishment, Apple's previous wage difference wasn't very large, with women making 99.6 cents for every dollar a man makes, Business Insider reports. Both Microsoft and Facebook also announced earlier this year that they've erased any pay differences among genders.
"We're now analyzing the salaries, bonuses, and annual stock grants of all our employees worldwide," Apple wrote. "If a gap exists, we'll address it. And we'll continue our work to make sure we maintain pay equity."
Apple's overall workforce is now 68 percent male and 32 percent female, a minor shift from last year when it was 69 percent male and 31 percent female. Women account for 37 percent of its new hires, compared to 35 percent last year and 31 percent in 2014. Under-represented minorities, meanwhile, make up 27 percent of new hires (24 percent last year and 21 percent in 2016).
Overall, 54 percent of Apple's new hires are minorities (which includes Asians, who are more highly represented in the tech world). The below chart shows how Apple's new hires compare to its existing employees.
Despite its slow and steady progress in overall diversity, Apple's leadership teams haven't improved. In fact, the amount of white executives has actually increased to 67 percent from 54 percent a year ago. Among Apple's retail leadership team, white members now account for 76 percent, compared to 69 percent last year.The gender status of leadership roles, meanwhile, has remained stagnant at 72 percent male and 28 percent female.
Back in January, we also noted that Apple was making very slow gains in diversity. Last year, it also committed $50 million towards getting more minorities hired in the tech world
