Uber’s Black Workforce Declines Despite Anti-Racism Commitments

Diversity Report Shows Troubling Trend Amid Racial Justice Focus

Uber’s latest diversity report reveals a concerning decline in Black employee representation—dropping from 9.3% in 2019 to just 7.5% in 2020. This decrease comes despite the company’s public commitment to anti-racism following George Floyd’s death and subsequent racial justice movements.

Key Findings from Uber’s Diversity Report:

• Black employee representation fell 1.8 percentage points year-over-year
• Current U.S. workforce breakdown:
  • 44.8% white
  • 37.2% Asian
  • 7.5% Black
  • 8.4% Latinx
  • 1.3% multiracial
• 59.7% male workforce overall

Layoffs Disproportionately Affected Minority Employees

Uber Chief Diversity Officer Bo Young Lee attributed the decline to company-wide layoffs that disproportionately impacted customer service teams:

• 40% reduction in community operations staff
• Customer service departments had higher concentrations of Black and Latinx employees
• Overall layoff rate was 25-26%, but reached 40% in some divisions

“As a company that has so publicly stated its stance on anti-racism, that’s not acceptable,” Lee told TechCrunch. The decline prompted serious reflection among leadership, including CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

Progress and Future Diversity Initiatives

While Black representation declined, Uber reported:

• Net increase in women of color across the organization
• Plans to disaggregate Asian and Latinx community data for more nuanced analysis

Uber established its first diversity goals in 2019, aiming to:

• Increase women in manager+ roles to 35% by 2022
• Boost underrepresented employees in senior roles to 14%

Gig Workforce Demographics Remain Unclear

Uber doesn’t disclose demographic data for its gig workers, but independent studies show:

• 78% of San Francisco gig workers are people of color (LAFCO/UC Santa Cruz study)
• 56% are immigrants

Lee’s team advises on policies affecting gig workers, though they operate separately from corporate diversity initiatives.

Proposition 22 Controversy Continues

The report comes amid ongoing debates about Uber’s support for California’s Proposition 22, which:

• Maintains gig workers as independent contractors
• Was backed by $206 million from Uber and other gig companies
• Faced opposition from labor groups and some Uber employees

Lee defended Uber’s position, noting that AB5 (the law Prop 22 modified) excluded many white-dominated professions while affecting service workers disproportionately.

Looking Ahead

Uber leadership has pledged to:

• Address the unintended consequences of recent layoffs
• Advocate for similar gig worker frameworks in other regions
• Continue diversity and inclusion efforts despite recent setbacks

“This reinforced how easy it is to lose some ground after all the work you’ve done,” Lee acknowledged, signaling ongoing challenges in achieving meaningful diversity progress.