Some New Economy Losers:
I live and work in San Jose and am in the position of hiring at a tech company. Hiring is absolutely top priority, and to insinuate that there is an agenda to have a predominantly white or otherwise monochromatic work culture is absurd. So it deeply worries me when I see CEOs diverting their precious attention to supporting workplace diversity, and I peg these CEOs, Carly Fiorina in particular, as New Economy Losers.
I hold no positions in any of these companies represented.
- GF
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Digital divide conference ends on Fiorina's tough talk
BY JOSHUA L. KWAN
Mercury News
Hewlett-Packard's Carly Fiorina, speaking on the final day of a conference on the digital divide, told colleagues that Silicon Valley was falling short on diversity efforts because it wasn't a high enough priority.
``The fact is that diversity is not a hiring practice or a hiring priority in many Silicon Valley companies,'' said Fiorina, speaking on a star-studded panel of high-tech executives who had been brought together at the San Jose Hyatt by the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/Push Coalition.
``As a result, this industry has far too much conformity.''
Though Fiorina has spoken passionately in the past few months about ensuring a place in the digital economy for minorities and the have-nots, Wednesday's keynote speech was her strongest statement and toughest critique to date.
Jackson, who has labeled ``economic inclusion'' the latest civil rights struggle, opened the lunch by telling more than 500 people to ``leave no one behind.'' The rallying cry, first voiced by U.S. Marines in battle, should be the imperative for leaders in Silicon Valley to attack the problem of the digital divide today, he said.
``There's no talent deficiency in America [Bullpuckey! -GF], only an opportunity deficiency,'' Jackson said. ``There are significant opportunity gaps and they must be closed.''
Over the past three days, the Rainbow/PUSH conference has sought to connect minority entrepreneurs, financiers and executives with each other and make introductions to Silicon Valley's economic power brokers.
Those included the CEOs who spoke at the Wednesday panel: Fiorina, John Chambers of networking giant Cisco Systems, Craig Barrett of chip maker Intel Corp. and Robert Knowling Jr. of digital subscriber line provider Covad Communications. [I'm comfortable tagging all but Chambers as NELs. What's he doing there? Cisco hires anyone it can get its hands on! -GF]
Chambers compared today's Internet Revolution with the industrial version that transformed America's economy and society in the 19th century. Such upheaving changes are opportunities for both individual companies and the nation as a whole, he said. ``That's when you gain or lose market share,'' Chambers said. ``Or you get left behind.''
Three-step plan
With a direct and stern demeanor on the podium, however, it was Fiorina who laid the responsibility for diversifying the workforce at the doorstep of her company. Fiorina offered a three-step plan for the technology industry.
``We need to stop the rhetoric, recognize the value in diversity and change through `e-inclusion,' '' she said, referring to her coined phrase for embracing diversity and training the disadvantaged with the skills to participate in the New Economy.
Fiorina asked executives to look in the mirror and examine their companies' workforce. She scrutinized HP's faces and found it still falling short of ideals. To stir HP's pot of innovation, she has made diversity the centerpiece to her goal of reinventing the company.
[News Flash to Carly: You'll be fired before too much longer. What are you doing wasting time worrying about diversity? Fix the damn company, focusing on products and operations, not how diverse your workforce is! -GF]
``Diversity inspires creativity and inventiveness, and those are the core virtues of the New Economy,'' she said.
In other sectors of American life, diversity is a source of innovation and a strength, she said. The world of business needs to harness this energy as well, she said.
``We need to value differences, not just in entertainment, sports and style. We need to value difference in the world of finance, the world of technology, the world of corporate management.''
While Jackson talked about level playing fields and equal access to jobs and contracts, the business leaders focused instead on the need for more qualified candidates in a tight labor market.
All four executives pointed to wooing children at an early age and teaching them the technical skills necessary for today's job market. The doors for qualified applicants are wide open, Chambers said, asking the audience to check out his company's employment Web site.
But giving away computers to children and installing Internet connections in classrooms are not enough.
``Computers are not magic,'' Barrett said. ``Teachers happen to be magic.''
Covad's Knowling agreed. Teachers must be willing -- and skilled -- magicians, capable of captivating youth with the mysteries of science and technology.
``We have to make sure the teaching profession stops becoming the discipline of default,'' Knowling said. Too many people end up as teachers because their first option failed, he said, and there's not enough financial incentive to join the teaching ranks.
During Jackson's tour of Silicon Valley last year, he said that the first order of business for the Rainbow/Push organization was to purchase stock in the 50 largest companies. As a shareholder, the organization would attend annual meetings and ask questions about hiring practices and diversity on the board of directors.
Jackson on the move
Jackson didn't say if he had attended any shareholder meetings, but said that he has been working closely with corporate leaders to fill more seats on the board of directors with minorities.
This time around in Silicon Valley, the focus was on high-level networking.
For about an hour after the luncheon, Jackson met privately with the assembled CEOs in a brainstorming session. Though no proposals were cemented, the discussion was fruitful, Knowling said.
``What we're good at right now is identifying the problem,'' he said. ``We're all a little short on solutions. That's what we'll try to crystallize.'' |
