Twitter’s new diversity data show gains in women representation
Twitter released its Inclusion & Diversity data for the first half of 2021, which show some progress regarding women representation in its global workforce and representation of under-represented communities in the U.S.
The company said women now make up 43.7% of its global workforce, up from 42.7% in 2020. But in terms of leadership there has been a setback, with women now making up 37.7% of global leadership roles, versus 38.2% in 2020.
In the U.S., Black people represent now 8.4% of Twitter’s workforce – up from 7% in 2020 – accounting for 6.7% of technical roles and 7.3% of leadership roles. Meanwhile, Latinx people make up 6.7% of the company’s U.S. workforce – up from 5.5% in 2020 – filling 6.1% of technical roles and 3.9% of leadership roles.
“We’re determined to keep up the momentum. We’re also mindful that diversity without inclusion doesn’t work. What’s the point of investing deeply in hiring great talent from underrepresented backgrounds if you don’t create an environment that constantly empowers them to share and leverage their unique perspectives and insights at your company?” said Dalana Brand, Vice President, People Experience, and Head of Inclusion & Diversity, outlining the company’s progress in its DEI efforts and the changes in how it supports leaders of its business resource groups (BRGs).
Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives
Twitter said it interviewed the 60-plus employees who manage its BRG leaders one-on-one to learn more about the challenges they faced, and it used those learnings to roll out a manager toolkit to provide more visibility into the work done by the BRG leaders.
BRG leadership was incorporated into annual performance reviews, and the #GoodForTwitter initiative, which also kicked off last year, encouraged all employees to list their involvement with BRGs as part of their annual performance goals and reviews.
The company then took it one step further, creating a formal compensation program for its BRG global leadership team, ensuring fairness by introducing term limits, adding a transparent election process and providing answers to frequently asked questions to BRG members.
Women now make up 43.7% of the company’s global workforce.
Twitter also has begun an initiative to encourage all managers to drive participation in existing company-wide inclusion and diversity programs. Starting this year, all Tweeps who manage people are required to get their #InclusiveManagerBadge by:
- Completing all I&D skills-building courses: “Allyship 101,” “Healthy Conversations,” “Words Matter” (on microaggressions) and the soon to launch “Anti-Racism 101”.
- Maintaining a “Inclusive Manager” minimum score of 67 in our two annual employee engagement surveys.
- Attending at least four BRG events throughout the year.
Other related initiatives detailed by Twitter include:
- #FlockTalks, sessions exclusive to Twitter employees who want to come tougher and share how they’re feeling during difficult times, were expanded globally.
- The company’s #TakeCare programming was bolstered with the addition of an Asian licensed therapist to help Asian Twitter employees process the rise in anti-Asian hate and racism, as well as a Black licensed therapist to help Blackbirds process the murder of Daunte Wright and the Derek Chauvin trial.
- Twitter’s #AllyshipRightNow series was expanded to provide more tools for practicing allyship and reducing the emotional burden of asking marginalized employees for resources.
- The company’s new Mentoring@ mentorship pilot program is focused on underrepresented and underserved communities, and it has more than 500 mentors and mentees participating thus far.
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