Over the weekend, Apple posted its latest EEO-1 statement: the Equal Employment Opportunity form follows government regulations to note diversity of Apple’s employee base (via AppleInsider). The newly-released 2015 statement shows that 30 percent of Apple’s employees in the United States are female, a rise of 1% over the numbers posted in the 2014 statement. Black and Hispanic employees make up 8.6 percent and 11.7 percent of the workforce, respectively.
At an executive level, Apple continues to be heavily stacked towards white men. The report says that Apple’s senior officials, executives and managers are 83 percent are male, and 83 percent are white.
That being said, it’s worth noting that Apple refutes the EEO-1 process. It says that the federally-enforced survey is outdated and does not reflect reality. The company’s own numbers paint itself in a much better light, claiming >50% growth in employment of black, Hispanic and female hires.
This is how Tim Cook talks about Apple’s diversity efforts in a letter posted on its Diversity site last year. On that same page, Apple pours cold water on the EEO-1 numbers, explaining that whilst it is a benchmark for comparison across companies, it is not how Apple measures its progress. Apple has not updated its diversity site with the latest data however.
Apple says the EEO-1 statement ‘has not kept pace with changes in industry or the American workforce over the past half century’. It’s unclear what Apple means by this exactly, but it at least addresses the discrepancies. Apple says its own data is a more accurate representation of reality. Regardless of whether you agree with the methodologies, Apple’s diversity stats are better than most of the industry.
Apple has also made a big note of highlighting the role of women in its company over the last few years. Following Ahrendts high-profile appointment to SVP in 2014, Apple gave demo time to two female managers on its keynote stage: Jennifer Bailey (presenting Apple Pay) and Susan Prescott (presenting Apple News). Bailey also appeared at the Code/Mobile conference earlier in the year.
