Lyft releases first diversity report, showing edge over Uber

[NEW YORK] Ride-hailing startup Lyft Inc released its first staff diversity report, revealing more women and minorities in technical roles than rival Uber Technologies Inc, which presented its demographics in March.

Lyft said 18 per cent of its tech workers are women, compared with just more than 15 per cent at Uber. Eleven per cent of Lyft's tech workers belong to a group other than white or Asian, almost double Uber's corresponding figure.

The inclusion reports come as Lyft has tried to distinguish itself as more welcoming than its larger foe, which has been plagued by allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

The data may give Lyft a slight boost in its public relations battle with Uber, but the numbers are in line with the rest of Silicon Valley, where most tech and leadership roles go to white and Asian men.

"Our diversity data exposes gaps in important areas. So we're doing something about it," Lyft said in a blog post announcing the report.

"Releasing our data will hold us accountable, but it's the actions we take that will make a difference to the people who come to work every day at Lyft."

The San Francisco-based company said it would train managers to combat unconscious bias and has created partnerships to broaden its recruiting pipeline.

The current numbers show that 36 per cent of Lyft's overall leadership is female, while 12 per cent of its managers are African-American, Latino, Native American or identify with more than one race. At Uber, 22 per cent of leaders are women, and 3.1 per cent of the leadership ranks come from an underrepresented minority group. The companies use different definitions for leader.

At both companies, men make up more than half of the overall workforce, with Lyft closer to an even split. Uber has a slightly higher percentage of American workers from underrepresented groups in the tech industry.

Both ride-sharing services have created diversity landing pages on their websites to highlight the stories of female and minority employees. Diversity became a battleground for the two companies after President Donald Trump's travel ban in January.

While airport protests and a taxi strike were under way, Uber continued to pick up passengers, prompting hundreds of thousands of users to delete the app and Lyft to pledge a US$1 million donation to the American Civil Liberties Union.

BLOOMBERG