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Comment by supergirl | Hacker News Reader

such a narrow view for a CEO. from what he says I take that he sees no value in a diverse workforce; he sees it only as a cost and he can't spare anything because he needs to deliver growth.

> We can’t get distracted in that mission.

he sees diversity as a distraction.

I read somewhere an interview where he says some time ago he was rejected for a job because they gave it to a diverse candidate. this is his revenge I guess.

edit: it was here https://archive.is/dMTEM

> In 2019, during an all-hands meeting at Snowflake, Slootman told the story of how early in his career he was rejected for a job he was well qualified for because the company needed to fill a quota of hiring more minorities, a former senior Snowflake employee said.

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Only entitled people would be fine with a job that they got knowing it was due to their skin color, gender or other properties not related to their professional skills.

that implies that there is no value at all in having a diverse workforce and hiring a minority candidate is just doing the person a favor.

it also implies that people get hired based on professional skills alone. so if a minority person gets lower score it must mean that they don't have enough skill. but in fact, the whole discussion is about (unconscious) bias against minorities. so you can't really assume the interview is fair.

If by diverse you mean characteristics such as ethnicity or gender/sex for example, then you're right. The value it (may) add doesn't justify optimizing my hiring pipeline for to increase their representation in my organization. After all, I'm not interested in building a mosaic of all sorts of people. I'm interested in meeting goals of my business. Everyone who can contribute to that effectively is welcome.

When we have a candidate who is from a "minority" group and we treat them differently because we assume they suffered more to get where they are so they paid their due and now are entitled to the job position, isn't that an unconscious bias too?

When we look at white men and assume they had an easy ride in life, isn't that an unconscious bias too?

Look, everyone belongs to different groups at the same time so they have more privileges and advantages in some areas, while in a minority group in another. How far should we go? should we also check who has the least privilege and representation within a minority group before we hire them? Do people in minority groups ever run out of privilege once they acquire it?

This whole idea of treating people differently based on their race or other irrelevant attributes is discriminatory and racist. How the hell did we get here? I don't know.

Everyone brings something to the table, regardless of their gender or ethnicity. It seems that you prefer to discriminate against certain people.

> that implies that there is no value at all in having a diverse workforce

Is there, as in actually?

Of the top of my head, the NBA, the entire of India, and all of China are crushing the competition without barely any diversity.

You should investigate the need to consider 'comprehensive evidence'. Even if it doesn't suite your conclusions.

Such an arrow view for someone. From what you see I take that you see no value in ensuring everyone has a fair shot at a job.

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