Skip to main content

Apple HR chief Denise Young-Smith emails employees about diversity & inclusion

Apple_Diversity

Apple’s Vice President of Global Human Resources Denise Young-Smith emailed all Apple employees last week regarding diversity and inclusion. The email continues Apple’s recent string of events to promote diversity within the company. In mid-August, Apple released diversity data and held events on campus to promote inclusion. Young-Smith was promoted to head of all Apple HR earlier this year, and she received additional attention last month when she was added to Apple’s official executive biographies web page. The full email, via a source, is below:

Team,

Tim has kicked off an ongoing conversation about inclusion and diversity at Apple. No matter what our role is or where we sit, this is important and meaningful to all of us, to our customers, and to those who are considering a career at Apple.

The “In Your Voice” feedback we’ve received has been nothing less than what we’d expect: authentic, impassioned, and broadly representative of our diversity of thought and perspectives from around the world. And we’re grateful for it.

Many of you shared stories about how Apple’s culture of inclusion changed the course of your life, whether personally or professionally: “I was over 55 when I was hired. My hiring manager looked beyond my age and hair color and saw me for what I am: an energetic, hard-working individual up for the Apple challenge. Thank you.” “I am rewarded for being and thinking differently. My point of view is appreciated in this environment, whereas in previous experiences and environments, my point of view seemed to be something others had to deal with.”

A few of you compared Apple to the United Nations, describing your daily routine of hearing many languages spoken around you at work and benefitting from global viewpoints.

You told us where Apple could be doing better. You said that your teams and your managers could do more to be inclusive. This often manifests itself in subtle ways — from the words we choose, to how we hire, to how we engage one another and develop others. We all bring with us a life experience that makes us unique, yet colors how we view others and the world around us. We can all benefit from enhanced awareness of how our actions affect others.

Some of you shared that you don’t feel as connected as you would like to your teams or to initiatives that feel removed from your location. You also want to hear from and connect with the many amazing role models in our organization. These are areas we can greatly improve upon and we will. We must.

We believe to our core that inclusion inspires our very best innovations. As one of you put it, “Diversity is essential to making sure our products are great for all humanity. When our teams are diverse, we make noticeably better products for the world.”

Along with that, we know that we need to demonstrate an active commitment to inclusion in our day-to-day work to fully leverage the richness of our diversity.

We’re going to continue this conversation and others that further the dialogue on innovation, inclusion, and of course, why we are all here: to make an impact and do our very best work. Together.

We welcome your thoughts and ideas as we move forward.

Denise

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. rogifan - 10 years ago

    An HR person emails employees letting them know their voices are being heard….how is this newsworthy? It happens at every big company. I could send plenty of emails from my company with a similar message.

    • michaeloftroy - 10 years ago

      It’s newsworthy because this is a site specifically devoted to following Apple and it’s news, rumors, and other goings on.

      Also, I noticed you might be confused as to what a blog is. You seem to be mixing it up with a news site, like CNN, which only publishes ‘news’. A blog is a website which has authors or contributors that write about a variety of things, but usually staying within a specific overall topic. In the case of 9to5mac, that topic is Apple.

      Furthermore, I believe you might have a valid point if you were asking why this is relevant. And to answer that, one simply has to look at the recent public criticism that Apple has been receiving regarding it’s own diversity. This blog post simply adheres to that theme and follows a handful of others like it. See the recent released by Apple detailing the make up of it’s workforce.

      So next time you make a criticizing post, I implore you to S.T.A., Stop-Think-Act, before hitting submit.

      Thank you.

      • xprmntr - 10 years ago

        Yes SIR!

      • nyctravis - 10 years ago

        Best. Post. Ever.

      • rogifan - 10 years ago

        Clearly 9to5Mac is posting this not because they think the memo itself is newsworthy but that they got another leak from inside Apple. It’s standard HR jargon that I’m sure gets sent by every big company all the time.

      • kplayaja - 10 years ago

        SWEET BURN!!! Said what we all thought!

  2. PMZanetti - 10 years ago

    The only worse than prejudice that leads to intentional lack of diversity…

    …is forced diversity, for political correctness.

    • rogifan - 10 years ago

      I’ll bet when Apple does these employee surveys the biggest issues people bring up aren’t related to ‘diversity’. Go read reviews on glassdoor.com. No complaints about lack of ‘diversity’ but plenty of complaints about pay, work/life balance, politics, etc. Biggest complaint seems to be long work hours and basically being on call 24/7. Wonder what HR is doing to address that?

      • spanky2112 - 10 years ago

        They make cricket sounds. They won’t increase anyone’s pay. I was hoping a new head of retail would make some changes, but it looks like business as usual. When you ask for more money, you get the “it’s not in the budget” song and dance.

    • With all due respect, you are so wrong. For those who are the victim of prejudice, a forced diversity is far better than nothing, and far better than the prejudice itself.

      Consider diversity in the workplace. If “forced diversity” is what allows you to get a job you otherwise wouldn’t get, that’s far better than nothing. That’s an opportunity.

      The only people who crow about political correctness have never been the victim of discrimination.

      In general, while we would like people to come to the place of no discrimination on their own goodwill, sometimes deliberate efforts to prevent discrimination are needed. As Martin Luther King said: “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

      To paraphrase, diversity initiatives may not get a person to love you, but it can get you a job, it can get you an education, it can get you opportunity, and that’s pretty important.

    • Oflife (@oflife) - 10 years ago

      You are spot on. Alas liberals are very self serving and look to blame others for their failings so need a crutch. Way better that a company hires on ability and integrity.

      • kplayaja - 10 years ago

        Problem is, that doesn’t always happen. I’m assuming your privilege blinds you to this fact.

    • Jerome (@RichJava) - 10 years ago

      None of these tech companies are doing forced diversity. They will donate money to charities. As with most companies, cronyism is one of reasons why diversity is poor. People want to work with people they can trust and know. These numbers will never change.

  3. PMZanetti - 10 years ago

    Notice how the image has to include all different genders, ages, and races? Or rather, it has to appear to represent that? The darker skinned or asian-looking individuals could be as culturally hollow as the next individual, but it still “looks like diversity” based on people’s extremely immature perception of the concept.

    • ctyrider (@ctyrider) - 10 years ago

      What exactly are you complaining about? People of different genders, ages and races IS what diversity looks like. Do you know of another / better way to represent diversity on a poster?

      • PMZanetti - 10 years ago

        Its a fraud, is my point. DIVERSITY is mostly a fraud. Diversity as a concept is only understood by people who are inherently racist, sexist, or otherwise prejudice. How is it ‘diversity’ to say 4th generation Americans are technically “different” cultures, or “different” races and therefor “diverse”. Its all bullshit.

        “There’s not enough girls, or blacks on your team.”….is to me, one of those absurd, backwards, counterproductive arguments, yet it seems to carry as much weight these days as a woman screaming sexual harassment.

      • Dean Har - 10 years ago

        So what’s your issue with the picture? The picture and email seem pretty harmless to me, don’t know why you’re getting so agitated. Besides, the photo seems like a pretty standard sample of what you’d typically find at Apple. I don’t see signs of anything forced…even for an image promoting diversity. But I guess the Asians look too different for ya or maybe there aren’t enough blonde blue-eyed males.

        You talk about how the concept of diversity is inherently racist, sexist, and prejudice yet here you are with your own absurd and counterproductive arguments. When I first looked at the image, all I saw were annoyingly ecstatic Apple employees. Didn’t even acknowledge race until you (ironically) pointed it out and made an issue out of it. Good job.

    • sgns - 10 years ago

      I think it’s got more to do with showing some will, or even pride. You could probably turn it around and say: Notice how it has to look like all white males in their thirties in order to be credible?