04-05-2017
For the first time, Uber has released its own internal data on the gender and racial make-up of its staff. Concurrently, Uber has set up a website page regarding its nine employee resource groups. Names for these groups include: “Los Ubers” for Hispanic employees, “UberHue” for African-American employees, and “UberPride" for LGBTQ employees. “Shalom,” a group for Uber’s Jewish employees reads “Our goal is to make the world a little smaller, by connecting Uberettos and Jewbers from all backgrounds, encouraging collaboration and closeness from all corners of the globe.” The Twittersphere did not react well to the term “Jewber” or some of the other group names, suggesting that Uber should have run the names by HR or a legal team. Apparently, several other tech companies also utilize these types of names. For example, Google has been reported as having “Gayglers,” “Jewglers,” and "Greyglers.”
The diversity reports show the standard tech company breakdown that is predominantly white, male, and Asian in its executive and tech positions. Women make up just 36.1% of the workforce with most of the women working in lower level positions. Half of Uber’s workforce is white; Asians make up 30.9%, blacks 8.8% and Hispanics 5.6%. In executive positions, white employees hold 76.7% of the jobs. In customer support, women and non-Asian minorities hold a larger segment of the positions. Uber has stated that it intends to make more of an effort to recruit non-Asian minorities.
Uber has faced a serious of negative reports just in the last couple of months. Two early investors criticized the company for “a culture plagued by disrespect, exclusionary cliques, lack of diversity, and tolerance for bullying and harassment.” One female engineer alleged that she had experienced sexism and sexual harassment at the company.