Diversity has been a prominent issue in the news for some time now, which we all know. Companies both large and small have made efforts to close the pay gap, higher a more diverse workforce, etc. Currently there are two companies facing high-profile lawsuits claiming reverse-discrimination, Google and YouTube, under the parent company Alphabet Inc.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, “White Men Challenge Workplace Diversity Efforts”, “A recruiter is accusing YouTube of retaliating against him after he complained that the video site discriminated against white and Asian male applicants in favor of hiring other people of color and women.” The allegations are stating YouTube told its’ recruiters to cancel interviews with candidates who weren’t ‘female, black, or Hispanic’. YouTube describes the information on the video site as an effort to become more diverse and they will be defending themselves in the courts.
The second suit is against Google after an employee, James Damore, was fired. The article states, “Mr. Damore and a co-worker sued, accusing Google of being a hostile workplace for employees with conservative views and alleging it unfairly favors women and certain minorities when hiring and promoting.”
After reading this, it made me curious. Have tech companies taken hiring a more diverse workforce to far in some cases? Are they leaving qualified candidates on the table because they aren’t a minority?
According to the WSJ, “Men have filed between 22% and 23% of all Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges alleging sex-based discrimination in the past three years.”
How do we, as human resource professionals, increase diversity without leaving qualified applicants out because they are not diverse? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
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