Just as Tech Looked Serious About Diversity, Trump Intervenes

HIRING IS NECESSARILY exclusionary. Hiring one person for a position means not choosing someone else. Some forms of exclusion are acceptable (an applicant lacks talent); some are unacceptable (an applicant lacks a penis); and some seem good, but mask bad intentions (an applicant wouldn’t be a good “culture fit,” often a smokescreen for race or sex).

The Trump administration is stepping up its scrutiny of diversity initiatives, creating a dilemma for tech companies. Many promised to support racial justice this summer in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. Now, they must navigate conflicting pressures to both increase and suspend their efforts to hire more people of color.

Both sides of the diversity culture war pledge the same value: It’s wrong to exclude someone because of their race or sex. But unfair exclusion is in the eye of the beholder. The Trump administration says recruiting and hiring more people of color is exclusionary. Activists and many employees hold that the paltry number of Black and brown employees at all levels in Silicon Valley is proof of exclusion.

Last week, the US Labor Department sent an inquiry letter to Microsoft, warning that its June commitment to doubling the number of Black leaders in the company “appears to imply that employment action may be taken on the basis of race.” Dev Stahlkopf, Microsoft’s corporate VP, posted a lengthy rebuttal, disputing that the company was doing anything illegal and defending its goal to diversify.

https://www.wired.com/story/tech-look-serious-diversity-trump-intervenes/