Intel workforce diversity report throws up a bunch of 'unknowns'

In the pursuit of transparency, Intel has released a breakdown of its staffers, including new hires – revealing that it doesn't seem to know all of its employees' sex or race. Chipzilla’s mid-year US workforce data report revealed the firm is making progress toward diversification. 43 per cent of newbies were women or non- …

[Erik4872]

Wonder how much longer this will be a problem

One of the secrets that are kept from new engineering students is the tendency of the profession to grind down new hires and spit them out when they're "too old." It doesn't happen everywhere, and high-end chip designers, EEs, etc. may be less affected than run of the mill techies. But, now that this fact is starting to become common knoweldge, wouldn't it make sense that fewer smart people of any race are enthusiastically embracing an engineering job? If you want to get qualified candidates, as well as a diverse workforce, the perception of engineering as a dead end, easily offshorable, unstable career choice needs to go away. Combine that with improving education before college, and you should have a healthy crop of eager new grads willing to work in what is quite honestly still a very interesting field.

The last financial bubble showed that financial firms siphon away a lot of top technical people to work on HFT and other projects. For those who like a stable career, medicine is also available to smart people. If I were 18 again, I'm not sure I would consider the effort of an engineering degree if I could just go get an MBA, or any of the other paths to riches.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Wonder how much longer this will be a problem

No they should be leaping into tech - while the boom lasts.

The companies now have a double incentive to fire old expensive white male workers and to hire anybody female or non-white.

Eventually the female/non-white employees will become old and expensive but you should have been able to score multiple promotions and hiring bonusses by then by simply jumping between companies that are the least diverse and so most desperate to hire you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Wonder how much longer this will be a problem

That is the problem! "desperate to hire you' meaning non-white, non-senior. I am insulted by this obtuse racist policy and comment. Diversification is bullshit. So companies are forced to hire unqualified candidates simply to fill a quota. No wonder we are losing out to 'outsource India'. I am one of those old-white seniors - I do not demand a 100K salary, I simply want to work, but NO Im the wrong color and sex to be considered! BS!!!

[PushF12]

Re: Wonder how much longer this will be a problem

The 35-45 age range for sunsetting white men is more written policy than a secret. (It would be fair to include asian males in this discussion, but the western world cares about them even less.)

The diversity output of schools is still too low to satisfy strategic goals, so in addition to hiring discrimination, the ratios are being forcibly changed by terminations and selective layoffs.

Actively warning youngsters that STEM fields are poisoned is the only decent thing to do. Any student smart enough to be competent in STEM can succeed in a regulated trade or protected profession. Remind their parents how "worker shortage" stories coming through the TV are paid content.

[asdf]

Re: Wonder how much longer this will be a problem

>Remind their parents how "worker shortage" stories

are due to employers looking more for off shoring than training on their company specific one off skills (ie enjoy the cost savings and leave before the poop boomerangs).

[xerocred]

re: Worker shortage...

Time to point out again that computer science (followed by engineering) has the higest unemployment rate among new graduates. Source Higher Education Statistics Authority hesa.ac.uk

[asdf]

wait

Last I heard Intel was more worried about laying off than diversity hires. Guess we know who they will be laying off.

[John Sanders]

Political correctness will be the death of us all.

[Anonymous Coward]

No its a minor inconvenience for the most part outside the echo chamber. Starting wars for fun or spending money we don't have is the bigger danger.

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't classifying people by race..

The very meaning of racism? How could a company slap a label on people who refused to be classified by race?

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Isn't classifying people by race..

Yes companies are rushing to hire people on the basis of race to prove that they aren't racist.

And you didn't think Americans did irony ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Isn't classifying people by race..

>And you didn't think Americans did irony ?

Oh they do plenty but not usually intentionally or with awareness.

[Craigness]

Racist hiring...

"1,119 whites, 1,257 Asians"

Why is the "pale" people that get the blame for being too populous and interested in tech when it's actually the yellow people that are taking too many of the black people's jobs?

And why does the register use racist terms like "pale" but not "yellow"? There is nothing wrong with my skin, and are you worried about offending those with yellow privilege? Let's have some equal opportunity racism from el reg please?

[Dr Scrum Master]

Re: Racist hiring...

And why does the register use racist terms like "pale" but not "yellow"?

There are a lot of "yellow" people who are whiter than a lot of "white" people too.

Maybe black people would be interested in different careers if the media presented role models other than: rapper, footballer, boxer, etc. Or it might be better if people didn't associate role models by race... I knew that a class-based society was inherently good!

Curiously, I don't see much complaints about under-representation of the orange people... after all, they all seem to end up on TV.

[Anonymous Coward]

Natural selection...

Until women and sub Saharan Africans are selected out by the lack of a welfare state conjoined with inability in fixing steam engines, there will never be the large enough numbers of people from those groups with the brain power to compete in complex IT.

There are undoubtedly clever sub Saharan Africans, and even one or two women, but thick white men were wiped out in the industrial revolution by this.

If this isn't true, ask yourself this...

Despite being shown that mosquito nets stopping malaria in children, and given them, and told how they work, they still haven't worked out that they need to start making them.

If we want a diverse workforce, we should be encouraging death of the stupid percentage of a demographic, rather than encouraging its propagation with food aid.

[Will Godfrey]

Re: Natural selection...

I can assure you there is no shortage of thick white men in the area I live. Also, all the corner shops that thrive are run/owned by brown skinned people.