of its staff are Black workers, which the company says is the result of the largest increase in five years. However, the reports cover all of the tech giant, not just its gaming teams.Varnado attributes any recent increases to a confluence of factors, including the murder of George Floyd in spring 2020 and resulting social unrest and a switch to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Floyd’s murder, he said, made more people at senior levels of game companies “sympathetic to the idea that well maybe there is bias in our system” and led to more programs to improve diversity in hiring and employment.Remote work broadened hiring pools as well, Varnado said. “It was these different, overlapping ideas happening that moved the needle a little bit forward,” Varnado said.any gains are fragile, subject to employers’ commitment to increasing diversity, and even recent reports don’t show notable improvements at the leadership level.of its staff in the U.S. were Black workers as of the end of 2021, but only 4% were Black people managers, and less than 1% were at the VP level or above.
Retention is also a concern. Workers of color are often asked by the companies to do extra work to create and promote an inclusive environment, Varnado noted, but not necessarily officially recognized for that work in employee reviews, nor compensated for it. That can lead to burnout.A bigger percentage of Black people in the industry can’t be the whole goal, Varnado says.
“Now it's about: Can we get a more inclusive industry across the board? And can we create programming that will help people become successful from when they enter university basically until they've become CEOs of their own companies?”
Stubbornly? Poor choice of words.
Is successful diversity in America measured only on the basis of participation by a specific race? Who sets the guidelines/measures for success?
Maybe they should just hire competent and capable people.