Intel is offering incentives of up to $4000 to staff who refer women, minorities, and veterans to its workforce. The fee is double the chipmaker's current referral bonus and is seen as a way to diversify its predominately white, male personnel.
The move is part of Intel's ongoing $300 million Diversity in Technology initiative, which aims to invest in training and recruiting female and other groups of underrepresented computer scientists. The company said it aims to have a fully diverse workforce by 2020. According to a 2014 report, Intel's US workforce was 76 percent male and 56 percent white.
Intel is committed to increase the diversity of our workforce. We are currently offering our employees an additional incentive to help us attract diverse qualified candidates in a competitive environment for talent. This is not the first time we have offered employees referral incentives for diverse candidates, and it's a commonly used recruitment tool for businesses. Today, it's one of many programs we are deploying to attract talented women and underrepresented minorities to Intel.
Intel isn't the only tech giant looking at ways to diversify its workforce; Facebook, Google and Apple have all launched similar initiatives aimed at addressing the underrepresentation of woman and minorities in the IT sector.
Facebook recently started a program within a handful of divisions that requires the applicant pool for a job to include at least one minority. Google is also attempting diversify its workforce by pledging $150 million to focus on diversity initiatives this year, up from $115 million in 2014. Moreover, in addition to hiring more women and minorities, Apple announced that it would ensure equal opportunities in the workplace for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals.
The issues of workplace diversity and the treatment of women and minorities within tech companies have been under the spotlight recently, with several Silicon Valley firms facing high-profile lawsuits and charges of discrimination.