--- description: Apple shareholders rejected a proposal that would have required them to adopt an "accelerated recruitment policy" for minority leaders title: Apple Minority Recruitment Proposal Rejected by Investors image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22cbf1961171e959/69887f6da988ca86536b6c6d/apple-tim-cook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Apple](/tag/apple/) ## Apple Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Apple Shareholders Reject Plan to Recruit Minorities for Top Positions  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 27, 2016 3:03 PM CUT  Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an event introducing new iPads at Apple's headquarters October 16, 2014 in Cupertino, California. Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an event introducing new iPads at Apple's headquarters October 16, 2014 in Cupertino, California.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 27, 2016 3:03 PM CUT Apple shareholders [rejected a proposal](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/26/apple-rejects-diversity-plan-minorities-silicon-valley "undefined") that would have required them to adopt an “accelerated recruitment policy” to place minorities in top positions at the company. The proposal failed 94.9% to 5.1%, [the _Guardian_ reported](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/26/apple-rejects-diversity-plan-minorities-silicon-valley "undefined"), citing an announcement at Apple’s annual shareholder meeting on Friday. The company’s board had urged shareholders to vote against the proposal. “There’s much more work to do on diversity across the company. I can commit to you we are working very hard on it,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said after the vote. Lack of diversity has long been a problem among the many Silicon Valley companies that [employ mostly white men](http://time.com/4237758/zuckerberg-facebook-black-lives-matter/ "undefined"). Apple has said previously it would work to address [gaps in employee diversity](http://time.com/3181684/silicon-valley-diversity-minority-workers-invisible/ "undefined"). The proposal earned the support of civil rights groups and leaders, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, but Apple had characterized the measure as “unduly burdensome and not necessary,” [Bloomberg reported](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-26/apple-holders-reject-proposal-to-require-minorities-in-top-ranks "undefined"). Apple’s eight-person board includes two women and one black man. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4239915/apple-investors-minority-recruitment-plan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4239915/apple-investors-minority-recruitment-plan/"},"headline":"Apple Shareholders Reject Plan to Recruit Minorities for Top Positions","datePublished":"2016-02-27T15:03:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:26:20.458Z","description":"Apple said the policy would be restrictive and unnecessary","url":"https://time.com/4239915/apple-investors-minority-recruitment-plan/","keywords":["Apple"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22cbf1961171e959/69887f6da988ca86536b6c6d/apple-tim-cook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22cbf1961171e959/69887f6da988ca86536b6c6d/apple-tim-cook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Apple Unveils New iPad Models","caption":"Apple Unveils New iPad Models","creditText":"Justin Sullivan/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/apple/","name":"Apple"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4239915/apple-investors-minority-recruitment-plan/","name":"Apple Shareholders Reject Plan to Recruit Minorities for Top Positions"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"FBI Wants Apple to Unlock More Than The San Bernardino iPhone","description":"The debate is no longer about just the one iphone that belonged to Syed Farook, the San Bernardino shooter. The Justice Department wants Apple to extract data from at least nine other iphones. Sloane Glass (@sloaneglass) has more.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SWKkTpcw/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-24T22:28:37.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SWKkTpcw.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4239915/apple-investors-minority-recruitment-plan/","duration":"PT1M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4239915/apple-investors-minority-recruitment-plan/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```