
More Black women leaving Google’s workforce
Google increased Black and Latino hires in 2020 compared with the previous year, but it is also grappling with higher rates of Black and Latino employees leaving the company in the U.S., especially Black women, according to the company’s latest diversity report.
Data shows that new hires of Black people increased to 8.8% of overall hires from 5.5% a year earlier, while hiring of Latinos increased to 8.8% in 2020 from 6.6% a year earlier. However, attrition rates for employees from those groups also increased, highlighting the challenges the internet giant faces when it comes to growing representation.
Google’s attrition index, which uses 100 as a baseline, registered at 121 last year for Black+ workers in the U.S. compared with 112 in 2020. For Latinx+ employees, the index jumped to 105 last year from 97.
Data are even worse for Black+ women, with the index soaring to 146 from 110. For Latinx+ women it fell to 81 from 93, while for White+, attrition dropped to 112 from 117, falling across both men and women.
Women in leadership increased
Google did make some strides though. “Hiring changes drove our best year yet for women in tech globally and Black+ and Latinx+ people in the U.S.,” Google says in its diversity report.
Global female hires grew to 33.7% of overall hires from 32.5% in 2019, while in the U.S. they also increased to 33.1% from 32.1%.

The company nearly doubled the number of Black+ people in U.S. leadership to 7.1% last year and increased the number of women globally in leadership to 28.9% from 26.1%.
Also, 2020 was the company’s best year since it began reporting data in 2014 for hiring of Black+ and Latinx+ U.S. workers, with 8.8% of overall hires coming from each of those groups compared with 5.5% for Black+ in 2019 and 6.6% for Latinx+.
Still, just 1.8% of technology hires were Black+ women and an equal share Latinx+ women.

Commitments to improve racial equity
Google has already made a number of commitments aimed at increasing racial equity among its ranks and says that it is on track to meet these goals.
By 2025, the company has committed to improve leadership representation of underrepresented groups by 30%, double the number of Black+ Googlers in non-leadership roles in the U.S., double the number of Black+ directors across EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) by 2023, and grow its presence in cities that contribute to a high quality of life for Black+ Googlers by adding 10,000 jobs in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C., as well as continuing to focus on recruiting and hiring Black+ people in London.
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