14 DAY TRIAL // “Intel Inside” is a logo that Intel would love to see on every possible device in the world, but that will never happen. So the company figured it would be satisfied with “every type” of device in the world instead.
Such is always the goal of its investment strategy, one that stipulates that a whole bunch of money will go into diversifying its business. But there is another issue that is plaguing it, something its image doesn't need: that there aren't enough types of people, and especially women, working for it.
During its CES 2015 keynote in Las Vegas, Nevada, Chipzilla said it would hire more women and other minorities.
It also said that it would invest around $300 million / €250 million into so-called “diversity initiatives.”
Underrepresented minorities demand recognition
This, at least, is the reason why Intel said it even came up with this very specific hiring program. You may or may not be familiar with the Gamergate controversy about sexism in video game culture.
Like most every other scandal, it sparked from something relatively small but exploded into something massive due to the added momentum of various other, smaller and mostly isolated incidents.
Intel described it as “a recent confluence of events related to women and under-represented minorities” in its press release.
This confluence caused it to start a process through which it will hire more women in all sorts of positions, as well as other minorities underrepresented in its business practices.
It plans to complete this business expansion by 2020 and will invest, as we said before, $300 million / €250 million to make sure it happens smoothly.
The appropriate ratio for the number of employees in a specific demographic hasn't been determined yet, but it wants “representatives of the talent available in America” among other things.
That Google Yahoo, Facebook and other large tech companies have primarily white and male workforces is another driving point behind this initiative.
The likely impact
On the employment chances of women and other demographics in the world, Intel's investment and workforce expansion plan won't have much of an impact at all.
Three hundred million dollars isn't that much money in all honesty, especially for a company that makes billions upon billions of profit each month.
However, this does set a promising precedent, just like when Intel made sure all its products were conflict-free, meaning that Intel doesn't use materials and labor from contested or war-torn zones. Hopefully, everyone else on the tech industry, and world economy at large, will take this cue.