Netflix is prioritizing staff diversity in the US by including more Black top executives.
The streaming service saw the number of Black employees grow by over 40% from 2020 to 2021. Across the US, Black workers make up just 13% of leadership positions.
Women also make up over half of Netflix’s full-time positions, exceeding the rate of the country’s entire workforce.
The company’s representation of the Hispanic community is still struggling, with these workers making up just 8.6% of its workforce and typically work in lower-level paying jobs.
Companies have started prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, including being transparent about their workforce’s gender and racial makeup even when progress still needs to be made.
Netflix’s 2020 EEO-1 form, which is an annual data report that must be submitted to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and can be voluntarily shared to the public, shows that its workforce of over 13,000 employees consisted of 60% male, 9% Black and 13% Hispanic workers. These numbers show that the company has improved its representation over the last few years.
In 2018, the company hired a head of diversity and inclusion in order to boost its representation and last year, it committed $100 million to programs that would give women and minorities more opportunities within the entertainment industry.
“Transformational change won’t happen overnight. Progress takes consistent discipline, heart and practice,” said Verna Myers, vice president of inclusion strategy at Netflix. “We’re committed to doing our part in inspiring change within our industries – so more people can feel seen, heard and supported to contribute at their best.”
