Google has announced that it will commit $175 million which roughly amounts to 1,332 crores INR to support racial diversification. The company wants to uplift black business owners and startup founders, enable better support in terms of helping black people to get employed, help developers through many such initiatives and contribute towards the betterment of the black community.
Google has brought about a host of changes which primarily is being designed to diversify the management and even its products. Earlier this month, even Apple pledged $100 million towards the same cause. This news comes right after YouTube, which is also Google-owned, gave away $100 million dollars to primarily “amplify and develop” the voices of black creators of the video-sharing app.
The Black Leadership Advisory Group and Black+ Googlers have shown the reality as to where the representation of the black community members really stand. This has been a reason why the company has taken a pledge to work towards racial diversification, inclusion and equity.
“One where systemic racism permeates every aspect of life, from interactions with law enforcement, to access to housing and capital, to health care, education, and the workplace.” said Sundar Pichai in his letter to his employees.
The $175 million commitment is part of an “economic opportunity package” and Google has broken that down to four groups. The sum of $100 million will be devoted to black member-led venture capital firms, startups, and other organizations focused on black entrepreneurs. There is another $50 million that will be used as financing and grants for small businesses “focused on the Black community.”
Google says that the third group, which has an amount of $15 million, will be directed towards training programs for black job seekers. An additional $10 million will be given to support black developers of the company, offering access to “education, equipment and economic opportunities.” They have also pledged $3 million to support black students and the subject to be on focus would be computer science education.
In Google’s 2020 diversity report, it revealed that white+ employees comprised of 65.9 per cent of leaders in the US and for Asian+ employees there is a 29.6 per cent while Black+ employees made up just 2.6 per cent. There is a stark difference among the percentages of various races. Hence, Google has decided to do better in terms of encouraging black representation.
Sundar Pichai has also said that Google will hire, retain and promote more people from underrepresented groups too. Google is also planning to add some useful anti-racism training programs and make that work and benefit across the entire workforce. Previously, the company has been criticised heavily for underrepresenting the black community.