Yahoo reveals its workforce is less than 40 per cent female

Yahoo has revealed its workforce is less than 40 per cent female, and that many of the women are in non-leadership roles. The information is the web portal’s first such disclosure amid a Silicon Valley debate over diversity.

Yahoo said 77 per cent of its leaders – defined as vice-presidents or higher – are men, according to the report. Women make up 15 per cent of the technically-focused positions and have 52 per cent of the jobs in non-technical posts. Almost 90 per cent of Yahoo’s US workforce is white or Asian.

The California-based company, one of the few led by a female chief executive, Marissa Mayer, is disclosing the make-up of its staff after similar reports by Google and LinkedIn in recent weeks.

The reports shine the spotlight on the lack of minorities and women at technology companies, an issue that has received growing attention.

Apple, Facebook, Twitter and others have faced pressure to increase the number of women directors on their boards.

Ms Mayer, a former Google executive, was brought on board in 2012 to turn around the web company. Yahoo had 12,400 employees at the end of March. – (Bloomberg)