Twitter recruits new VP of Diversity & Inclusion from Apple
Twitter has officially appointed a new VP of Diversity & Inclusion, Jeffrey Siminoff, hiring him away from an identical role he held at Apple.
Siminoff was Apple's director of worldwide inclusion and diversity from Sept. 2013 until this week, according to his LinkedIn profile. The changeover was announced on Twitter by the social network's human resources lead, Brian Schipper.
TechCrunch noted that he previously served similar functions at Morgan Stanley, and was one of the founders of the LGBT organization Out Leadership.
In 2015 Twitter dealt with serious problems with the way it was managing diversity -- particularly with Leslie Miley, who was the company's only black engineer in a lead role until he was laid off during October's round of job cuts, even after already planning to leave on his own at the end of the month. Miley said that he clashed on how to handle diversity issues with Twitter's senior VP of Engineering, Alex Roetter, and also observed that with his departure there were "no longer has any managers, directors, or VP's of color in engineering or product management."
Indeed, in an official report released in August, just 1 percent of Twitter's U.S. workforce was listed as African-American, while 3 percent were identified as Hispanic. Worldwide only 13 percent of its workers were women.
By comparison, Apple data released around the same time counted blacks and Hispanics as representing 8 and 11 percent of the company's U.S. workforce, respectively. Women accounted for 30 percent of Apple's global labor.
Siminoff was Apple's director of worldwide inclusion and diversity from Sept. 2013 until this week, according to his LinkedIn profile. The changeover was announced on Twitter by the social network's human resources lead, Brian Schipper.
TechCrunch noted that he previously served similar functions at Morgan Stanley, and was one of the founders of the LGBT organization Out Leadership.
In 2015 Twitter dealt with serious problems with the way it was managing diversity -- particularly with Leslie Miley, who was the company's only black engineer in a lead role until he was laid off during October's round of job cuts, even after already planning to leave on his own at the end of the month. Miley said that he clashed on how to handle diversity issues with Twitter's senior VP of Engineering, Alex Roetter, and also observed that with his departure there were "no longer has any managers, directors, or VP's of color in engineering or product management."
Indeed, in an official report released in August, just 1 percent of Twitter's U.S. workforce was listed as African-American, while 3 percent were identified as Hispanic. Worldwide only 13 percent of its workers were women.
By comparison, Apple data released around the same time counted blacks and Hispanics as representing 8 and 11 percent of the company's U.S. workforce, respectively. Women accounted for 30 percent of Apple's global labor.
Comments
This is true, but quite often those of other ethics or gender are removed from consideration at an early stage, without even evaluating their skills and qualifications. For example, when I'm hiring a personal assistant, I would prefer a female over a male, yet a guy that submits an application may be even more qualified than the gal. It's this lopsided mindset that has been under the microscope in the corporate world lately, and that's what this whole effort to have better diversity is all about... to ensure that such early disqualifications are not part of the hiring culture at a company.
Looks like they're going to need women from Saudi Arabia, Muslims from Africa, Christians from Syria, secularists from Turkey, every damn style of human being you can imagine, even white guys from the US, what the hell . . .
Not.
How about just hiring the best, the brightest, and the most creative out-of-the-box thinkers?
If you read the whole story you will find that while Apple and Skype are both technology companies, Apple has found ways to employ a diverse range of people while Skype is a primary employer of white men. One of the ways Apple encourages more minorities to join the company is to bring them in on summer intern programs. This raises the qualification of some candidates without passing over more qualified white males during the hiring process.
If you are hiring without looking at the whole candidate's profile then you must do very little business with government entities from the federal level on down to city contracts. Better have a talk with your marketing department and see what it's costing you.
Not being led by an owner at heart who is willing to defend the company like it's their own child, Apple would eventually be picked over by vultures.