jesse-jacksonTwitter may be a popular social media outlet for black America, but according to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the micro-blogging site’s 2,910 employees is not a true representation of those who regularly utilize it.In an interview with The Guardian, Jackson put Twitter on blast for its lack of diversity, saying the black community is deeply disappointed with Twitter and other Silicon Valley-based companies for failing to take steps in bringing about workforce diversity.

According to the Pew Research Center, 27% of Twitter users are African-American adults while Hispanics comprise 25% of Twitter users and Whites make up 21%.
Jackson acknowledged the love black people have for Twitter as they use the service for bringing various issues that affect African Americans to the forefront. Despite this, the civil rights leader pointed out that the lack of more black employees shows that Twitter is not reciprocating that love.
“They hire people they know, they trust and like. We’re (blacks) not in that circle,” Jackson told The Guardian.
“I am very disappointed. Black people are greater users of the product and capable of doing the jobs, but there has not been an adequate commitment to hire, train and maintain [black people],” he added. “Some people call it ‘Black Twitter’ because we over-index so much, but they still don’t hire more black people. We are becoming uncomfortable with these numbers and there’s a big gap between their talk and their implementation.”

Despite Twitter publicly pledging to be more inclusive and diverse in an effort to reflect the diverse make up of its 302 million Twitter user, Jackson’s comments are not unfounded. Add to that the fact that much advertising money is brought in to Twitter from a large number of minority Twitter users and there is legitimacy in Jackson’s criticism. After all, he has been aggressive in getting tech corporations to practice more diversity in hiring employees.
The Guardian notes Twitter’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) report, which stated that broken down, Twitter’s 49 African American employees include 35 men and 14 women.
In comparison, African Americans make up only 2% of Facebook, Inc.’s staff, which boasts 2% for Hispanic workers, 55% White workers and 36% Asian workers. For Google, Inc., the diversity disappointment continues with 2% African-American, 4% Hispanic, 60% White, and 31% Asian workers.
Going back to Twitter, the EEO report mentioned that 93.8% of Twitter employees were either White or Asian. In addition, the company hired only 180 (6.2%) employees from “minority” backgrounds out of its total 2,910 employees. A further breakdown reveals that the 180 minority staff consists of 49 African-Americans, 68 Hispanics/Latinos, 47 employees from the “two or more races” category, 13 Pacific Islanders or Hawaiians, and three Native Indians or Native Alaskans.
On the gender front, Twitter is not doing well at all. According to Bidnessetc.com, 70% of Twitter’s total staff is male. This carries over into the company’s technical division staff, which has males dominating at 90%. Of the folks in senior executive positions at Twitter, females only occupy eight spots out of 37, compared to white males who occupy 21 positions (51%).