Facebook: Not much more diverse than last year

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook may be the world's most popular social network, but its employee ranks still look nothing like its users around the globe.

That's the bottom line from the Menlo Park, Calif., company's release of its employee demographics Thursday.

Hispanics represent just 4% and African Americans are only 2% of Facebook's U.S. workforce — same as last year.

Around the globe, 68% of Facebook employees are men, a slight improvement in gender diversity from last year's 70%.

More than half — 55% — of Facebook employees in the USA are white, while Asians make up 36%. Last year 57% of Facebook employees in the USA were white and 34% were Asian.

The stubbornly lopsided numbers come as Facebook says it has dedicated significant resources over the past year to diversify its staff, again showing that the lack of diversity in the white- and Asian-male dominated tech industry is not a problem easily or quickly fixed.

"Having a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do — it's the smart thing to do for our business," Facebook's global head of diversity Maxine Williams said in a blog post. She declined an interview request from USA TODAY.

When it comes to technical employees, the numbers are even more stark. Eighty-four percent are male, 51% white and 43% Asian. Hispanics still make up just 3% and African Americans just 1% of the workforce.

Last year, Facebook said 85% of its technical employees were men, 53% white and 41% Asian.

At the top of the company, the statistics improved slightly. Among senior-level employees, 74% are men, down from 77% last year, while 73% are white and 21% are Asian. Hispanics account for 3% and African Americans for 2% of employees in those management positions.

Last year, 74% of employees in high-level positions were white and 19% were Asian. Hispanics accounted for 4% and African Americans for 2%.

The technology industry is struggling with how to make its ranks from the board room to non-technical roles more diverse. Americans use the products these companies make every day, yet the companies do not mirror the demographics of the United States in race, gender or age.

Facebook's 1.5 billion users span races and cultures around the globe and the majority of its users are women. The No. 2 executive is Sheryl Sandberg, one of Silicon Valley's most prominent female leaders and author of the best seller Lean In. She has championed bringing more gender diversity to male-dominated corporate America.

"We know we have a long way to go," Sandberg said at Facebook's annual shareholder meeting earlier this month.

She was responding to questioning from civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who continues to pressure Facebook and other companies to set targets and timetables to recruit more women and underrepresented minorities.

Facebook released its diversity numbers for the first time in 2014, following the lead of Google.