The Wall Street Journalhad an article yesterday about how Facebook, in an attempt to increase its workforce “diversity,” gave its in-house recruiters a paid incentive to encourage applications from people who weren’t white or Asian males. That is: ”Previously, recruiters were awarded one point for every new hire. Under the new system, they could earn 1.5 points for a so-called ‘diversity hire’ — a black, Hispanic or female engineer — according to people familiar with the matter. More points can lead to a stronger performance review for recruiters and, potentially, a larger bonus, the people said.”
Facebook’s approach is illegal. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a), says, “It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer — . . . to . . . classify his . . . applicants for employment in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities . . . because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” I’ll be expecting an investigation by the Obama administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission right away.
Facebook Breaks the Law