Intel just made a notable change to its employee referral bonus policy. Refer a candidate who doesn’t look like the majority of its current workforce—predominantly white and predominantly male—and they’ll get more money.
The chipmaker (INTC) will pay up to $4,000 if a candidate is a qualified woman, veteran or minority, according to a plan detailed by the Wall Street Journal.
An Intel spokeswoman confirmed that an employee referral program exists, but didn’t share specifics. Here’s the company’s official statement:
Intel is committed to increase the diversity of our workforce. We are currently offering our employees an additional incentive to help us attract diverse qualified candidates in a competitive environment for talent. This is not the first time we have offered employees referral incentives for diverse candidates, and it’s a commonly used recruitment tool for businesses. Today, it’s one of many programs we are deploying to attract talented women and underrepresented minorities to Intel.
Intel President Renee James has been the face for Intel’s $300 million diversity initiative announced early this year, but she’s leaving next January to pursue a CEO post elsewhere. The company hasn’t committed to specific recruiting goals, at least publicly.
“While we have made progress on our goals over time, we are not content and will continue to take bold actions to grow and develop our diverse talent,” notes Intel CEO Brian Krzanich on the company’s diversity information page.
Intel ranks dead last for gender diversity in Coins2Day’s analysis of the latest diversity numbers for nine top tech companies: just 23.8% of its workforce is female.
This story has been updated to include comment from Intel.
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