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Apple get an 'A' for diversity beating Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

August 13, 2014 | 3 min read

Apple has revealed one of the most impressive diversity score cards in Silicon Valley, beating both Google and Facebook.

Tim Cook: 'Must still do better'

The company reported that 18 per cent of its employees are black and Hispanic. This compares to 5 per cent for Google and Twitter and 6 per cent for Facebook and Yahoo.

The release of the report followed similar actions by major Silicon Valley companies, said the San Jose Mercury News, which began pushing for such information from major tech companies in 2008,

Most resisted disclosure. Apple was one of the last major tech companies to respond to calls for information.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, whose Rainbow PUSH Coalition began prodding tech companies to open up about their ranks earlier this year, gave Apple above-average marks for diversity, though he sees ample room for improvement.

In a letter with the report, Apple chief executive, Tim Cook agreed that the company must do better.

"Let me say up front, as CEO, I'm not satisfied with the numbers on this page," he wrote. "We're making progress, and we are committed to being as innovative in advancing diversity as we are in developing our products."

Some observers think Apple's diversity score may have been boosted by its many retail stores, which distinguish it from much of the tech sector. More than half of Apple's full-time employees work in retail.

"Their numbers are possibly higher because of those retail positions," said Freada Kapor Klein, co-founder of the Kapor Center for Social Impact.

"But Apple has also added women to senior positions, as well as women of color, which is highly unusual. And that's absolutely terrific."

Overall Apple is still 70 per cent male and 55 per cent white.

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