Another big corporation joins the social injustice battle
Yesterday the Bank of
America raised $2 billion as a supportive measure for the Black and Hispanic
minorities, and Cisco followed up by revealing a social-justice platform, pledging to grow
the global Black representatives among its offices by 2023.
The company aims to increase
the number of people of color for the employee-through-manager level by 25%, while
the top management will be increased to 75%.
Based on a 2019
company diversity report, only 3.8% of its US employees were Black. The rate is
under 2.2% for management and VP levels, with no people of color in an executive
position.
Cisco was subjected to controversy after
firing a couple of employees who commented against the #Black Lives Matter
movement during a video-meeting, stating that those representatives "did
not live up to our values as a company."
The company will launch a $50 million venture-capital
fund named #Aspire Fund, investing in start-ups to increase partner variety,
while scholarships for historically black colleges and universities will be
granted other $50 million, over 5 years.
However, markets weren’t impressed with what
Cisco set in motion, closing the trading session 2.64% lower.
Sources: marketwatch.com,
finance.yahoo.com
