--- description: Google is planning to invest $150 million in workforce diversity initiatives this year. title: Here's How Google Plans to Hire More Minorities image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e44019941925e0b/6987eeb23c16398103455e3d/467363986.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [policy](/tag/policy/) ## policy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's How Google Plans to Hire More Minorities by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 6, 2015 8:40 PM CUT  The Google logo is seen inside the company's offices on March 23, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. The Google logo is seen inside the company's offices on March 23, 2015 in Berlin, Germany.Adam Berry—Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 6, 2015 8:40 PM CUT Google looks to be getting serious about increasing the diversity of its workforce. The company told [_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/05/05/google-raises-stakes-diversity-spending/26868359/ "undefined") this week that it’s planning to invest $150 million in workforce diversity initiatives this year, up from $115 million in 2014. Among Google’s plans, which have been percolating over the last year: doubling the number of schools where it actively recruits to find potential job applicants (Alabama A&M, a historically black college, is among the new schools Google is targeting). The company is also encouraging workers to take workshops to lessen any unconscious bias in the workplace, as well as letting Googlers use 20% of their work time to focus on diversity projects. To help broaden the pool of people potentially qualified to work at Google, the search giant has also released a free curriculum to help teachers launch computer science clubs and introduced Made With Code, an initiative aimed at helping girls identify with the world of computer programming. The fact that Google is tackling diversity on a number of different fronts is a smart approach, says Kimberly Bryant, the founder of Black Girls Code, a nonprofit that teaches programming skills to girls of color. “Google is being very deliberate about addressing the systemic issue,” she says. “They recognize that you can’t fix diversity by just focusing on just one area. You have to build a pipeline.” For now, Google’s employees remain strikingly homogeneous. As of the beginning of 2014, 70% of Google employees worldwide are men, while in the U.S. 61% are white and 30% are Asian. The company has plans to release updated demographic data soon, but the figures will likely be similar.  Google Diversity Report Google “With an organization of our size, meaningful change will take time,” Google vice president for people operations Nancy Lee said in a [blog post](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2015/05/doing-more-on-diversity.html "undefined"). “From one year to the next, bit by bit, our progress will inch forward.” Still, the very fact that Google is talking about this issue openly is a marked shift from even a year ago. In the past, diversity data was a closely guarded secret among many tech firms. After Google released its first diversity report last May, competitors such as Facebook, Apple and Twitter also coughed up their respective data. While their demographics were shown to be largely similar, the fact that the information is now public has created a greater level of accountability among the world’s biggest tech firms. “Just the fact that they are having the conversation now,” Bryant says, “is a big step.” ### The 10 Most Ambitious Google Projects  Google Driverless Car The Google Self-Driving Car has been in the works since 2005 after a team of engineers won a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to design an autonomous car. The project, which aims to reduce traffic accidents, has made headway in recent years as states passed laws permitting self-driving cars. Google plans a commercial release between 2017 and 2020. David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images  Google has been testing balloons which sail into the stratosphere and beam Internet down to Earth. Jon Shenk—AP  Google's smart contact lenses. Google/AP  Google Lively Google Lively was a web-based virtual community space where users could design avatars, chat with one another and personalize their online hangout space. The project was discontinued after a six-month stint in 2008 after limited success. Google/AP  Google Earth Google's virtual map of the Earth allows users to tour the earth with 3-D satellite images. The project, which dates back to 2004, has already found significant applications in disaster relief. Google/AP  Project Ara Google's build-your-own-smartphone project allows users to customize their handsets to their own preferences, with the possibility of eliminating electronic waste by encouraging users to add hardware updates on their own terms. The team is working towards a limited market pilot in 2015. Bryan Bedder—Getty Images for Engadget Expand  Disease Detecting Pill Google unveiled its plans to disease-detecting ingestible pill in October, a project that'll let patients access their real-time health data to encourage preventative care. The pill will contain nanoparticles that can bind to certain cells and chemicals, with the possibility of detecting diseases like cancer in early stages. Getty Images  Flying Wind Turbines The flying windmill is the project of Makani Power, a wind turbine developer acquired by Google in 2013\. The tethered airborne turbines will harness wind energy for the goal of producing low-cost, renewable energy Andrea Dunlap—Makani Power/AP  Google+ Google's social networking platform launched in 2011, the most successful service after several flops at designing a Facebook competitor, like the now-retired Google Buzz. Today, Google+ boasts over half a billion monthly active users. Stephen Lam—Reuters  Google Books Google Books dates back to 2004, when Google partnered with libraries and universities to plan to digitize millions of volumes over the next several years. The project aims to make searching books as easy as searching the web. 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