According to several Sunday reports, one of the world’s largest investment firms has set strict guidelines on when white men can be hired in a new diversity initiative.
State Street Global Advisors will require leaders to seek approval before they hire white men, according to Fox Business.
The company is reportedly trying to triple the number of black, Asian and other minorities in senior staff positions over the next two years. If executives fail to meet their diversity hire targets, they risk financial repercussions in the form of losing bonuses.
“Recruiters will now have to establish panels of four or five employees, including a woman and a person with a minority background, when hiring middle management staff,” the report said.
The initiative is being rolled out in the company’s London branch.
“This is now front and central for State Street — it’s on every senior executive’s scorecard,” State Street’s inclusion, diversity and corporate citizenship Jess McNicholas reportedly said.
“All of our leaders have to demonstrate at their annual appraisals what they have done to improve female representation and the number of colleagues from ethnic-minority backgrounds,” she continued, adding that the company is also committed to “hold[ing] ourselves accountable for strengthening black and Latinx owned businesses.”
State Street was founded in Boston, where it is still headquartered, and has offices worldwide, including on Wall Street.
In 2017, the company pulled a publicity stunt wherein it commissioned a “Fearless Girl Statue” to stare down the Wall Street’s famous “Charging Bull” statue.
But the company claimed that the statue was not political.
At the time, the company’s CEO Cyrus Taraporevala claimed that companies with female directors “tend to be better managed.”
“So for us, advocating for gender diversity is not some part of a political agenda. It’s about our long-term performance agenda. This is about value, not values,” he also said.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Cyrus Taraporevala” by Cyrus Taraporevala.
