Big Names in Tech on Best Employers for Diversity List
Forbes’ fourth annual list cites VMware, Cisco, Dell, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Comcast, Verizon and others.
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VMware
This isn’t the first DE&I honor or the first time on the Forbes list for VMware. As their website states, “At VMware, we celebrate our people from a wide variety of dynamic backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. We deliver transformative IT solutions by harnessing the power of human difference and building a community that is inclusive and diverse. Our diversity and inclusion initiative, VMinclusion, is a business-led effort to attract and engage the multinational, multicultural talent critical to our globally connected business.” An in-depth look at the company’s culture, community and commitments is available on their website’s DE&I page.
Cox Enterprises
From its website: “Inclusion is an essential part of both our culture and our business strategy at Cox. The collective sum of our individual experiences, backgrounds and skills are key drivers of innovation, continued business growth and improved performance. … At Cox, we believe diversity is limitless, embodying all human experiences and truths. Unity, not uniformity, is our aim. To achieve unity, we need equality and inclusion. We need action. We have formed the Actions Speak task force, a group of nearly three dozen leaders from across our businesses tasked with building a more diverse and inclusive environment at Cox.”
Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric has received numerous awards for DE&I. “At Schneider Electric, we want to provider equal opportunities to everyone everywhere and to ensure all employees feel uniquely valued and safe to contribute their best.”
If you want to learn more about their DE&I position and policies, they are available for download from their websitel
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems offers up several years’ worth of diversity data on their website. They state, “At Cisco, we see inclusion as a bridge — a way to connect diverse perspectives. To spark new ideas, explore new possibilities, tap into the power of digital transformation, and inspire innovation.
“We are inventing new ways to multiply the power of our people and developing innovative solutions to some of our most business-critical challenges and opportunities while expanding our commitment to fair pay and accelerating our diverse talent. We are investing in our emerging diverse leaders and creating new realms of inclusion through technology. Cisco is partnering across the globe to multiply our impact and taking a stand for social justice throughout our communities.”
Dell Technologies
You can learn all about Dell Technologies’ DE&I data and initiatives in their 2020 Diversity & Inclusion Report, available for download from their website.
“At Dell Technologies, we believe that diversity is power,” says Brian Reaves, the company’s chief diversity and inclusion officer. “It’s how we win and win the right way. We are experiencing a time when our commitment to diversity and inclusion has never been more important. The disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 and longstanding racial injustice have highlighted the need to address socioeconomic disparity and continue to work toward racial equity.
“At Dell Technologies, we are committed to doing this work, within our own four walls and in our communities — to remove racial bias, increase representation, support the Black community and foster an inclusive environment.
SAP
Recognizing their position as a global organization with employees representing more than 150 nationalities, SAP states that it is “committed to being one of the most diverse and inclusive software companies in the world. We proactively promote diversity, inclusion, and social justice and work to ensure that our workforce reflects the gender parity and demographics of all the regions where we have employees. We make every effort to ensure that all stages of the employee lifecycle are inclusive to enable employee success, hold leaders accountable, and build a diverse ecosystem – both internally and among our partners and customers.”
The SAP Integrated Report shows how diversity and inclusion integrate into the company’s core business. You can download a copy from their website.
HP
HP’s stated DE&I goals include doubling the number of their Black and African American executives by 2025, doubling the Black and African American promotion rates and technical representation by 2025 and increasing their inclusion score for Black and African American employees from 84% to 90% in 2021. Progress on all of these goals will be reported in the company’s 2020 Sustainable Impact Report. They also support MIT Solve’s Antiracist Technology Challenge to advance racial equity for U.S. communities of color.
Intel
In addressing its global diversity and inclusion, Intel states, “Diversity and inclusion are key to innovation. At Intel, we are committed to advancing diversity and inclusion at every level in our company and the broader industry. It is foundational to our business and purpose — to create world-changing technology that enriches the lives of every person on earth.”
“We must collaborate, not compete, on diversity,” says Dawn Jones, Intel’s chief diversity and inclusion officer and vice president of social impact. “2020 has been a transformative year. It is causing us to think differently about the challenges we face as an industry. Open sharing of our data has enabled Intel to both celebrate progress and confront setbacks. It’s our responsibility to keep raising the transparency bar for ourselves and the industry.” You can read Jones’ complete editorial here.
Microsoft
“Different perspectives help us all to achieve more,” Microsoft states. “Our mission is deeply inclusive: empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. We expect each of us—no matter what our level, role or function is—to play an active role in creating environments where people of a diverse range of backgrounds are excited to bring all of who they are and do their best work.”
Microsoft outlines how they’re advancing inclusion in their 2020 Diversity & Inclusion report, which is available on their website.
Comcast
In June 2020, Comcast accelerated its longstanding commitment to DE&I with $100 million for driving reform. Dalila Wilson-Scott, Comcast’s chief diversity officer, maintains a blog in which she provides updates on the company’s DE&I progress.
Among the programs and initiatives underway are evolving DE&I efforts in employee hiring, advancement and anti-bias, and anti-racism training; deepening their commitment to addressing digital inequities; amplifying Black voices and Black stories, highlight diverse cultures and shed light on inequality; commit financial support, marketing services, technology upgrades, in-kind media and more to BIPOC-owned small businesses; and partnering with and providing grants to organizations working to eradicate injustice and inequality.
Verizon Communications
In April, Verizon announced that it was expanding its DE&I reach with a new responsible marketing action plan. The plan addresses four key drivers that will impact the marketing ecosystem, both within the company and with its partners. It includes increasing diversity and equity in both representation and economic investment within the creative supply chain; continuing to build an inclusive environment for all talent to thrive and retain diverse talent; strengthening practices aimed at fighting racism, bias and stereotypes in all advertising, content and media; and maintaining content policies that prohibit Verizon creative from being placed or run in broadcast and digital environments where hateful, denigrating, discriminatory and other types of harmful content appear.
AT&T
In addition to the Forbes list, AT&T has been recognized repeatedly by DiversityInc for its commitment to ensuring its workplace is inclusive with a wide diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. In fact, AT&T was inducted in the DiversityInc Hall of Fame in 2020 and then honored on several specialty lists at the 2021 awards ceremony earlier this month.
“At AT&T, we recognize we are people first, and if we all commit to listening, understanding and taking action to stand for equality, we will be one step closer to building a truly inclusive environment inside and outside the workplace, says Corey Anthony, AT&Ts senior vice president and chief diversity and development officer.
A detailed look at the company’s workforce diversity — past and present — is available on AT&T’s website.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
Nearly one-fourth of HPE’s workforce is involved with one or more of the company’s DE&I employee resource groups. There are more than 140 such groups around the globe, with 13,600 active members in 46 countries.
The company identifies four DE&I impact pillars: talent, workplace, marketplace and reputation, taking a stand for equity and inclusion in each one. “Current discussions around systemic racism, inclusion and diversity demonstrate the importance of taking bold actions to create a more equitable and sustainable future,” says HPE President and CEO Antonio Neri.
IBM
IBM’s DE&I initiative Be Equal promotes action, allyship, awareness and more, Launched in 2019, as an initiative to engage employees, customers and society at large in promoting the advancement of gender equality in business leadership. Today it has expanded to include eight communities — Black, DiversAbility, Hispanic, Indigenous, LGBT+, Pan-Asian, Veterans and Women — that embrace all aspects of identity.
“I fundamentally believe that as we continue to uphold the values of diversity, inclusion and equity, we will make IBM a better and stronger company,” says Arvind Krishna, IBM’s chairman and CEO.
T-Mobile
It should be no surprise that T-Mobile is dedicated to DE&I. As former CEO and president John Legere expressed it, “Creating a culture of diversity and inclusion has been in the T-Mobile DNA since the Un-carrier was born. Let me put it this way. If you were building a company that planned on breaking all the rules in the industry, would YOU want employees who fall in line with the same old cookie-cutter mold?”
Last September, T-Mobile unveiled its 14-member External Diversity and Inclusion Council. The group was created as part of T-Mobile’s multiyear, $25 million civil rights memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last year with six diversity and civil rights organizations. The council includes a representative from each of the organizations that co-signed the MOU and others from outside T-Mobile who are leaders in their respective communities.
Lumen Technologies
At the top of Lumen’s DE&I approach is their Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee (DISC). The committee is composed of eight leaders from around the company who drive different programs and initiatives. “We believe that we make more progress when inclusion starts at the top,” the company explains.
The company currently has 12 employee resource groups that help advance their diversity, inclusion and belonging philosophy. The groups assist with employee career development, increase employee engagement and help the Lumen connect with its increasingly diverse customer base.
“One of our strengths is the diversity of our people, and we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture,” Lumen states on its website. “The mix of viewpoints, talents, experiences, backgrounds and beliefts found at Lumen are respected and valued.”
Spectrum
With 48% people of color overall, 34% women overall and 9% veterans overall, Spectrum describes their workforce as “a team of people that resembles the customers and communities we serve.”
“We celebrate our employees’ unique skills, backgrounds and perspective, and we want team members to feel valued, heard and appreciated,” says Rhonda Nesmith Crichlow, Spectrum’s senior vice president and chief diversity officer. “This not only enables employees to fulfill their career aspirations, but also enables us to achieve business success and empower the communities we serve.”
Oracle
Oracle celebrates diversity among its 135,000 employees worldwide. “Every good idea at Oracle comes from our employees,” says Safra Catz, Oracle’s CEO. “By building diverse and inclusive teams, we benefit from each other’s strengths and perspectives. That’s what turns good ideas into great ideas.”
The company’s employee resource groups — from Alliance of Black Leaders for Excellence and Oracle Diverse Abilities Network to Oracle Pride Employee Network and Oracle Latinos Alliance (and more!) — help employees connect, empower themselves and enact change.
Xerox
In its diversity brochure, Xerox explains that DE&I is “more than a goal,” it’s “a corporate-wide commitment.” At the level of vice president and above, 29.9% are female, 7.9% are minority females and 11% are minority males. Minorities make up 30.2% of the U.S. workforce and 22.6% of officials or managers. Among new hires, 36.9% are minorities and 36% are female.
“Diversity and inclusion are not just words on paper; they are part of our core values and the way we do business,” Xerox states on its website. “Through teamwork, professionalism, respect and inclusiveness, we create an environment where our people can achieve their goals and make our clients more successful. We recognize that diversity and inclusion gains will not be sustained unless our workplace promotes and encourages new ways of problem-solving and diversity of thought.”
Samsung Electronics
Among Samsung Electronics’ nearly 290,000 employees worldwide, there are myriad employee resource groups in different regions addressing a variety of concerns in order to further professional development and create an inclusive culture. This wide-ranging collection of groups are united under Samsung’s belief that fostering diversity is essential to continued innovation.
“At Samsung, we believe that innovation and growth are driven by an inclusive culture and diverse workforce,” the company says on its website. “We aim to create a global team where everyone belongs and has equal opportunities, inspiring our talent to be their true selves. Together, we are building a better tomorrow for our customers, partners and communities.”
Broadcom
With 21,000 employees worldwide, Broadcom describes itself as “a multinational, multicultural company and employ people of many different nationalities, ethnicities, cultures, faiths and beliefs around the world.” To that end, they “are firmly committed to providing equal opportunity for all.”
“We understand that business success and innovation thrive in a diverse and inclusive work environment,” the company says. “As an equal opportunity employer, we strive to recruit and hire diverse candidates and to employ and advance qualified women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities. We also strive to create a meritocratic work environment that is welcoming and inclusive to all and which empowers our employees to collaborate freely and contribute to our collective success.”
Synnex
At Synnex, DE&I is a function of corporate social responsibility. “To foster diversity and inclusion, we celebrate the diversity of our associates, customers, and vendors,” the company says. “These differences enrich our performance and provide us with a significant competitive advantage in the global marketplace. That’s why we’re serious about preserving everything that makes our associates unique by providing equal employment opportunities, supporting those with disabilities, and fostering a corporate-wide culture that is inclusive, respectful, and free from harassment.”
“Synnex is more than just a company, it is a team of hard-working, talented individuals with diverse backgrounds thriving in an inclusive environment. Our ability to succeed comes from a culture that embraces each other’s differences and commonalties with dignity and respect as we strive to do our best work with excellence and integrity. ”
Broadcom
With 21,000 employees worldwide, Broadcom describes itself as “a multinational, multicultural company and employ people of many different nationalities, ethnicities, cultures, faiths and beliefs around the world.” To that end, they “are firmly committed to providing equal opportunity for all.”
“We understand that business success and innovation thrive in a diverse and inclusive work environment,” the company says. “As an equal opportunity employer, we strive to recruit and hire diverse candidates and to employ and advance qualified women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities. We also strive to create a meritocratic work environment that is welcoming and inclusive to all and which empowers our employees to collaborate freely and contribute to our collective success.”
Synnex
At Synnex, DE&I is a function of corporate social responsibility. “To foster diversity and inclusion, we celebrate the diversity of our associates, customers, and vendors,” the company says. “These differences enrich our performance and provide us with a significant competitive advantage in the global marketplace. That’s why we’re serious about preserving everything that makes our associates unique by providing equal employment opportunities, supporting those with disabilities, and fostering a corporate-wide culture that is inclusive, respectful, and free from harassment.”
“Synnex is more than just a company, it is a team of hard-working, talented individuals with diverse backgrounds thriving in an inclusive environment. Our ability to succeed comes from a culture that embraces each other’s differences and commonalties with dignity and respect as we strive to do our best work with excellence and integrity.”
Forbes has released its fourth annual list of America’s Best Employers for Diversity. And with events of 2020 bringing the need for corporate DE&I to the forefront, many people are giving the list more than just a scan.
To create the list, Forbes partnered with market research company Statista. Fifty thousand Americans working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees answered a survey. The survey was anonymous, allowing participants to respond openly. Respondents identified the companies they considered to be the most dedicated to DE&I. The 500 companies included on the final list of America’s Best Employers for Diversity received the most recommendations. They also had the most diverse boards and executive ranks, plus the most proactive diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Scroll through our slideshow above to see which big tech companies made this year’s list and how they got there.
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