Google will hold itself accountable on racial equity: Sundar Pichai

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai gestures during a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. Pic/ AFP

In a commitment to advance racial equity, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said that the company will hold itself accountable for creating an inclusive workplace. In June, Google committed to improving representation of underrepresented groups at senior levels by 30 per cent by 2025. "Today, we're adding a goal to more than double the number of Black+ Googlers at all other levels by 2025," Pichai said in a note sent to employees on Thursday.

The Google CEO said that the company is setting a goal to spend $100 million with Black-owned businesses, as part of its broader commitment to spend a minimum of $1 billion with diverse-owned suppliers in the US, every year starting in 2021. "Moving forward, all VP+ performance reviews will include an evaluation of leadership in support of diversity, equity and inclusion," he announced. Google also committed $12 million to support racial justice organisations in June and almost all of that has been distributed.

"On the product side, we're continuing to make our products more helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users," Pichai said. Recent activations include a new Black-owned business attribute on Maps, Assistant responses on Black Lives Matter, and new ways marketers can support Black-owned publishers in Display & Video 360. "We've also announced the first YouTube Originals to come from our #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, a $100 million global commitment to acquire and produce programming focused on Black experiences and racial justice education, as well as support Black YouTube creators and artists".

Pichai said the racial equity the company is working towards internally will "help us build better products and continue to support our users, businesses, and communities".

He emphasised that while much of the initial work has been focused on the US, "we are deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion globally".

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