Is Silicon Valley going crazy? Tell me

Google
Sundar

Go to company page Google

Sundar
Oct 6, 2016 185 Comments

Yahoo, within one and a half year, has turned top managers from 20% females to more than 80% in a big org. And intentionally demote or lay off male employees. Source:
http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/10/06/yahoo-ceo-marissa-mayer-led-illegal-purge-of-male-employees-lawsuit-charges/

Airbnb has a goal in 2017 they gonna turn 50% company's Eng population to females (considering 18% of CS degrees are held by women). And this lady has already turned Airbnb's Data Science department from 10% females to 47% in a short time. Source:
https://vimeo.com/album/3967705/video/167377165
(password: DataEngRocks1646)

Intel's VP of HR indicated they gonna hire women like crazy. They have diversity quotas, and meeting quotas ties to management bonuses.

Every other day I hear similar news from this or that Silicon Valley company. What's going wrong recently?

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TOP 185 Comments
  • Airbnb
    nil

    Go to company page Airbnb

    nil
    Hiring is not like drawing marbles from a bag and assuming you should get a random sample of demographics. The people in your company are actually people, and when you are a lone woman in a room of 8 people, you feel alienated. The last thing you want is everyone calling each other bro, and then treating you like you're a special snowflake entitled to 12.5% of the discussion... yet this is the reality of the industry. It pushes women out and exacerbates the problem.

    This is very much against the values we hold at Airbnb. We aim to foster a culture where everyone can belong, and one of the ways we do this is with a commitment to fixing this problem.
    Oct 6, 2016 17
    • Amazon
      tw8867

      Go to company page Amazon

      tw8867
      I'm not commenting on just leadership, because that wasn't the only thing the article focused on. And eventually you will either lose quality (there are bad employees no matter your sex) or you won't hire more people. Period.

      And if there is a gluttony of good talent, why is unemployment at 4.9%? There aren't just a million people lining up... that aren't already at other companies. Think of this on macro level, not one company.
      Oct 7, 2016
    • Even if all you said is true, not all companies can have one to one gender ratio due to the underlying supply. Airbnb is only making it worse for the rest of the industry.
      Oct 7, 2016
  • Google
    Bot rand

    Go to company page Google

    Bot rand
    I am a woman. Gender quota is sexist! It treats women as if we do not have what it takes and need special "help" to get a job. I joined Google 4 years ago; over my four years at Google I did not feel that people consider me incompetent or treat me different becAuse I am a woman. I do worrythat once after tech companies start to have gender quota, employees would start to look at their female coworkers differently, and they would have the reason to do so - after all, when women have a lower hiring bar, it is very fair to say they are likely to be "less than" their male counterparts.

    I would like companies to consider women as "people" instead of some poor minority group that needs help. For myself, I do not need other people's pity to get a job, and I would not be happy to take an offer if the company considers women as inferior candidates who can only get in with a lower hiring bar.
    Oct 7, 2016 9
    • Yahoo
      GarryOtter

      Go to company page Yahoo

      GarryOtter
      When you have quotas, eventually the good performers leave regardless of their gender. It speeds up the death of the organization since on one hand you have good people leaving and on the other you have weak performers coming in.
      Oct 8, 2016
    • eBay
      JpRY63

      Go to company page eBay

      JpRY63
      yet another form of socialism.
      Oct 8, 2016
  • These threads used to upset me, but it's starting to become amusing to see everyone freaking out about the fact that men might finally start having to face a fraction of the challenge that women have faced for years.
    Oct 7, 2016 14
  • Amazon
    tw8867

    Go to company page Amazon

    tw8867
    Hiring a specific minority should never outpace the demographics of that position. Example: if 20% of engineers in the workforce are female, then 50% of your engineers in a large company should probably not be female. If it happens accidentally totally fine, but intentionally? You are most likely diluting your talent. Same goes for black, Asian, latino, etc.
    Oct 6, 2016 10
    • Amazon
      Quicko

      Go to company page Amazon

      Quicko
      You should be comparing age uniondx with CS or Eng degree. Millennials are likely close to the majority.
      Jan 8, 2017
    • Amazon
      tw8867

      Go to company page Amazon

      tw8867
      The article posted above was for the general workforce, not just CS and Engineering, so didn't narrow down to that level. But yes, for the specific case of Yahoo! (and other tech companies) we would have to go down to that level. I discuss women enrollment in those degrees in another post.
      Jan 8, 2017
  • Google
    Sundar

    Go to company page Google

    Sundar
    OP
    On the surface, it seems the tech society now is sexist against men. But it actually hurts women ourselves - it easily makes people think you as a woman is on the table not because of your competency but sexual privilege. It's eventually sexist against women.
    Oct 7, 2016 4
    • Uber
      ninjad

      Go to company page Uber

      ninjad
      I was afraid to bring this point up as a guy. Thought I'd get shot down.
      Oct 7, 2016
    • Uber
      Toxicuber

      Go to company page Uber

      Toxicuber
      Someone talked about too many woman being hired - some even not qualified and he was fired then next day . Guys don't bring this up and I see performance implications too. Just do you work and get better at it and that will help in the long run.
      Oct 7, 2016