
Ask HN: How diverse is your workplace? - woodstar
Hi there,
Some companies claim that they value diversity.But the workplace reflects nothing but homogeneity.
So,how diverse is your workplace viz-a-viz White&#x2F;Black&#x2F;Hispanic&#x2F;Asia and Male&#x2F;Female?
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griffinheart
I work at a Start up in Japan with about 10 people, we have:

1 Japanese, 1 Portuguese, 1 Brazilian, 1 Filipino, 1 Canadian, 1 Australian, 1
German, 3 Americans (although 2 of them have been in Japan for a really long
time).

1 Female 9 Male

2 Asian, 1 Latin American, 7 White.

Although its very fun to have so many different cultures together and an
immense learning opportunity, I subscribe to the view of getting people based
on skill only.

We'll probably be on-boarding Japanese for the next 2 hires since, well, we're
in Japan and its a tricky place to do business with big, old Japanese
companies.

~~~
woodstar
Oh Dear Lord.I will love to work here.Your workplace sounds like a mini-United
Nation.

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clinq
I always feel confused when people say diversity in working place, esp. now in
IT. I am totally fine with a company that hires people based only on their
professional skills. Bringing race/color/gender etc into account, no matter
inclusive or exclusive, is discrimination IMO. Talking about diversity in work
and increasing diversity in work are also discrimination IMO.

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saluki
I admit my workplaces as an engineer haven't been very diverse.

Over the years I would say:

White 97% Black 1% Hispanic 1% Asian 1%

Male 97% Female 3%

University was great because there was a huge mix of people from all over the
world. I generally don't think about someone's ethnic background though.

I think everyone should be hired based on their ability and being a good fit
for the position. I don't think hiring a person because they are or are not a
demographic is necessary.

Perhaps aligning percentages with the population sounds like a good idea but
hiring the wrong person for a position just for the sake of meeting a quota is
a bad idea. I expect some demographics are probably less likely to be in
engineering just because of their school systems or engineering is just not
something they are pushed to get in to as they come up through Jr. and High
School.

So I think diversity is great, but I don't think it should be something that
drives your hiring practices where you're following a quota/percentages.

Just be fair and hire the best person that fits the position regardless of
their demographic.

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fedora007
My previous company was founded by an upper-class white female, and the hiring
mantra was "cultural fit". While we had lots of female employees in non-
technical roles, everyone was white (some were Western Europeans). Company had
< 40 people.

My current company was founded by upper-class white males, whose hiring mantra
is also "cultural fit". We have no foreigners and everyone is white (company
is < 30 people).

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chimmychonga
I work for company based out of Spain. Our US office is pretty small with only
about 30 people, while there are about 300 in the entire company.

In our us office there is only 1 girl and only about 6 native English
speakers. I think its pretty cool as I get to talk and get a peek into the
culture in Spain.

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woodstar
Good point.

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freakono
This has lots to do whith your location.

You won't see the same diversity if you work in Idaho vs working in LA.

From my experience, companies that hire candidates based on skills and
performance do better than companies that hire based on ethnicity/sex (whether
inclusive or exclusive).

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woodstar
Let me start.Where i work,it is 95% white males.2 Asian males, 1 white
woman.No black(male or female).No Hispanic(male or female). Honestly,i don't
find the environment thrilling at all.

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SayWhatIMean
You may be a racist.

~~~
woodstar
No.I am not a racist.I am a white man who likes to see diverse groups anywhere
i find myself.I live in a mixed and diverse community.I went to a diverse
University.You can learn a lot when you are inclusive than exclusive.The tech
community is all white males demography.If you have spent some time with other
races,you will appreciate the richness of seeing things from different point
of view.

